The DC History Center is pleased to announce a new initiative to compile a resource guide, amplifying access to local archival resources on the Latina/o/x communities of Washington, DC.
The new resource guide is being developed in collaboration with local repositories and through contributions by the public. When published and uploaded later this year, it will help researchers of all stripes gain a fuller understanding of the state of records created by, for, and about local Latina/o/x communities and thus deepen understanding of the communities themselves.
We’re very happy to have a great partner in this work: University of the District of Columbia Associate Professor Amanda Huron and undergraduate political science major Mariana Barros-Titus. They have crafted a practicum for Mariana that will result in a compilation and a research tool to list what she has found. Amanda and Mariana are working with DC History Center Deputy Director Anne McDonough and Research Services Librarian Kimmi Ramnine. We hope you will respond when Mariana contacts you!
As Mariana surveys curators, librarians, professors, and others who maintain and interpret records of local cultural heritage, she is building on existing connections and developing new relationships between the DC History Center and our local colleagues.
For Mariana, however, this is much more than a class project. Originally from Colombia, Mariana is a community organizer who has lived in DC for the past seven years. She is involved with the Statehood for the People of DC movement and serves as a Neighborhood Captain for Ward 2 in the Neighbors United for Statehood Coalition. “As a passionate scholar of power structures,” Mariana told us, “I am interested in better understanding the historical context that has shaped the world that we live in today. And as a Latin American immigrant woman, there is a natural curiosity to better understand Latinx history in the city of Washington as part of a greater effort to contextualize my own lived experience and that of those who share a similar identity.”
Patrons of our Kiplinger Research Library know that we constantly work on improving access to our historical collections as well as those complementing them. Over the past few years, we’ve created many topical guides, including the 2015 pan-institutional guide to local LGBTQ records. We participated in the 2017 DC Oral History Collaborative collections survey that identified oral histories held at 30 repositories across the District. And that same year, we produced “Reconsidering 1968,” listing selected research materials relating to the uprisings of 1968 at 14 repositories.
Guides like these are always snapshots in time. Additional collections will be donated or processed between our survey and the guide’s release. Certainly more will become known afterwards. So in order to remain timely, the Latino archival resources guide will be our first to allow continuous updating. The public will be able to submit more information and repositories will be able to update their submissions as needed. We haven’t yet settled on the format, so watch this space as we develop ways for you to contribute!
Update: The Phase 1 survey was available here through April 2021; all repositories and individuals who hold records reflecting the DC metro-area Latina/o/x and Latin American communities are encouraged to participate, and can continue to do so by emailing library@dchistory.org!