Arbol cronologico geografico del descubrimiento de las Americas, 1864 BY JOSHUA G. ORTIZ BACO Among many, many other objects, the Arbol cronologico geografico del descubrimiento de las Americas reminds me of how the collections at the Benson can come to life for our students. The lithograph is … [Read more...] about Staff Pick: Arbol cronologico geografico del descubrimiento de las Americas
Benson Collection
Staff Pick: Catalina de Erauso o sea la monja de alferes
Catalina de Erauso o sea La monja de alferes, XIX century, an unpublished version of the legendary life of Catalina de Erauso (1592–1650) BY BROOKE WOMACK SOMETIME IN 2018, I bought myself a copy of Butch Heroes by Ria Brodell. This book has plates of gouache paintings by the author depicting … [Read more...] about Staff Pick: Catalina de Erauso o sea la monja de alferes
Staff Pick: The Astonishing Artistic Gem of Manuel de Quiroz y Campo Sagrado
La inocencia acrisolada de los pacientes jesuanos, 1816 BY SUSANNA SHARPE In my search for rarely seen treasures from the Benson Latin American Collection, I consulted former colleague José Montelongo, co-editor of A Library for the Americas, a beautifully illustrated volume of collected … [Read more...] about Staff Pick: The Astonishing Artistic Gem of Manuel de Quiroz y Campo Sagrado
The Power of Giving
A Lifetime of Giving: Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long THE CENTENNIAL of the Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection in 2021 is cause for joyful celebration. The Benson’s partnership with the Teresa Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies (LLILAS), initiated in 2011, ushered in a decade … [Read more...] about The Power of Giving
Students Use Digital Tools to Examine “Hidden” Collection of Pre-Colonial Objects
Students in Astrid Runggaldier’s Art and Archaeology of Ancient Peru class were tasked with an intriguing project this spring: take a collection of pre-colonial objects that is, for all intents and purposes, invisible, and make it visible using digital tools. Their efforts have come to fruition with … [Read more...] about Students Use Digital Tools to Examine “Hidden” Collection of Pre-Colonial Objects
Cuba’s Revolutionary Comics: The Caridad Blanco Collection of Historietas Cubanas
BY ADRIAN JOHNSON COMIC BOOKS, originally created as entertainment for children, were long relegated to dime-store magazine racks, children’s bookshelves, and the cheap bin at used bookstores. While sales of comics today are struggling, in recent years they have come to occupy a more important … [Read more...] about Cuba’s Revolutionary Comics: The Caridad Blanco Collection of Historietas Cubanas
The Quilombo Activists’ Archive: A Transcontinental Partnership
BY EDWARD SHORE CARLITOS DA SILVA was an activist and community leader from São Pedro, one of 88 settlements founded by descendants of escaped slaves known in Portuguese as quilombos, located in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil’s Ribeira Valley (Vale da Ribeira). During the early 1980s, amid an … [Read more...] about The Quilombo Activists’ Archive: A Transcontinental Partnership
A Love Letter to the Library
LLILAS Benson is proud to announce the publication of A Library for the Americas: The Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection by the University of Texas Press (August 2018). Founded in 1921, the Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection at the University of Texas at Austin has become one of … [Read more...] about A Love Letter to the Library
21 Years of Peace, 21 Million Documents: Revisiting the Digital Portal to the Archivo Histórico de la Policía Nacional
Editor's note: According to an August 13 report on the National Security Archive website, “Guatemala’s renowned Historical Archive of the National Police (AHPN) is in crisis after its director, Gustavo Meoño Brenner, was abruptly removed in one of a series of recent actions orchestrated by the … [Read more...] about 21 Years of Peace, 21 Million Documents: Revisiting the Digital Portal to the Archivo Histórico de la Policía Nacional
Faculty Spotlight: Kelly S. McDonough
BY SUSANNA SHARPE There is a term in the Nahuatl language that means learned person, sage, or knowledge keeper: itxtlamati (plural, ixtlamatinih), a compound of the words meaning face and to know. The concept of knowledge gleaned from experience is central in the work of Kelly S. McDonough, … [Read more...] about Faculty Spotlight: Kelly S. McDonough