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
Benson Collection
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
Staff Spotlight: Albert A. Palacios
BY SUSANNA SHARPE Albert A. Palacios possesses an insatiable thirst for knowledge and the energy to match. In the almost fifteen years since he moved to Austin as an undergraduate, he has earned four degrees, finished the coursework for a PhD, studied in an array of disciplines, and contributed … [Read more...] about Staff Spotlight: Albert A. Palacios
Four Centuries of Rare Documents Will Be Digitized in Partnership with Puebla Archive
BY SUSANNA SHARPE August 8, 2018, was an auspicious day for students of Mexican history. An agreement signed between LLILAS Benson and the Tribunal Superior de Justicia del Estado de Puebla marks the official start of a project to digitize a large collection of archival materials from the Fondo … [Read more...] about Four Centuries of Rare Documents Will Be Digitized in Partnership with Puebla Archive
María Luisa Puga: A Life in Diaries
BY JOSÉ MONTELONGO Deciding how to end a novel is the author’s privilege. To write novels for a living is a volatile career choice, at least when it comes to paying rent, but the destiny and shape of your characters is not volatile at all, it’s your prerogative—you are the one choosing when and … [Read more...] about María Luisa Puga: A Life in Diaries
Eduardo Lalo: Words in Austin
Even before the devastation of Hurricane Maria, contemporary Puerto Rico was confronting unprecedented challenges. A spiraling debt crisis, record-breaking population exodus to the mainland, and draconian cuts to public services and education led to mass protests in the streets, higher taxes, … [Read more...] about Eduardo Lalo: Words in Austin
21 años de paz, 21 millones de documentos: Una reflexión sobre el portal digital del Archivo Histórico de la Policía Nacional de Guatemala
POR HANNAH ALPERT-ABRAMS | traducido por Susanna Sharpe ¿Cómo le hacemos para entender 80 millones de páginas de documentos históricos? Esta pregunta es de naturaleza filosófica. Se trata del poder de la mente para asimilar un número tan grande de documentos. El Archivo Histórico de la … [Read more...] about 21 años de paz, 21 millones de documentos: Una reflexión sobre el portal digital del Archivo Histórico de la Policía Nacional de Guatemala
Up All Night: A Librarian and Two Truckers Travel Cross-Country with 16th-Century Goods
BY BROOKE WOMACK and SUSANNA SHARPE A librarian and two truckers are on a mission. They will travel for 27 hours, through four states, and at least one of them won’t get much sleep. Their journey involves high-security cargo, a climate-controlled 18-wheeler, and some rare documents from the 16th … [Read more...] about Up All Night: A Librarian and Two Truckers Travel Cross-Country with 16th-Century Goods