Curatorial
Dolores Prida
In 2015, the Rare Book & Manuscript Library acquired the papers of Dolores Prida, Cuban-American journalist, playwright, and activist (1943-2013). Prida settled in New York as a teenager after the Cuban Revolution in 1961. One of the most important writers of her generation, Prida's plays, poetry and nonfiction explored the joys and challenges of the U.S. Latino experience. Her popular advice column, Dolores Dice (Dolores Says), which helped millions of readers navigate a bicultural life in the U.S., earned her the title Latina “Dear Abby".
The archive includes manuscripts and recordings of her plays, unpublished materials, and rare documents about the relatively understudied “dialoguero” groups in New York comprised of young Cubans who came of age in the United States during the 1960s and sought to create stronger ties with Cuba. A celebration of the acquisition of Prida's archive as well as her life and work will take place this September 30, and will feature Robert Federico, Damarys Ocaña, Alberto Sandoval-Sánchez, Rita Prats, and Frances Negrón-Muntaner.
Manuel Ramos Otero
In 2014, the Rare Book & Manuscript Library acquired the papers of Puerto Rican writer Manuel Ramos Otero. Ramos Otero is one of the most important Hispanic Caribbean writers of the late 20th century and Puerto Rico's first major openly gay writer.
Deeply innovative in both themes and form, Ramos Otero's work spans a wide range of genres, including the essay, novel, short story, and poetry. Through his publishing and organizing efforts, Ramos Otero also made important contributions to building New York's Latino literary community. He died in 1990 of AIDS-related complications at the age of 42.
A formal launch event took place on October 6, 2014 with the participation of Consuelo Arias, Arnaldo Cruz-Malavé, Luis Negrón, and Frances Negrón-Muntaner.
El Diario/La Prensa
In 2013, the Rare Book & Manuscript Library acquired the photo archive of El Diario/La Prensa, the nation’s oldest continuously publishing Spanish-language newspaper. The archive includes 5,000 photographs dating from the 1960s that document the lives of New York City’s Latino population, their struggles, and their contributions to the city and its culture.
The collection includes photos of entertainers, politicians, community events, parades, protests, and sporting events: Mayor David Dinkins at the 1990 Puerto Rican Day parade, children at a Three Kings Day celebration in East Harlem, Fernando Ferrer campaigning for Bronx borough president in 1986, and Tito Puente playing the timbales on Sesame Street with Elmo, among many others.
As part of El Diario’s centennial celebration in 2013, some of the images were exhibited at the Columbia University Medical Center and elsewhere in the city, as well as on the newspaper’s website.
Jack Agüeros
The Jack Agüeros collection, acquired in 2012, marked the beginning of the Latino Arts and Activism collection at the Rare Book & Manuscript Library. An activist in New York's Latino community starting in the 1960s, and director of El Museo del Barrio for close to a decade, Jack Agüeros was a pivotal figure of New York’s Puerto Rican cultural renaissance.
The materials in the collection include early versions of his poems, plays and short stories; unfinished manuscripts; newspaper clippings documenting his political activities; documents and slides from his days as director of El Museo from 1977 to 1986; and videos of interviews and readings in the early 2000s. Other highlights include his research about Julia de Burgos, a great 20th century Puerto Rican poet whose poems were compiled and translated by Agüeros.
