Sid Richardson Hall 1.109
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The Mexican American Library Program at The University of Texas at Austin was formally established in 1974 by the General Libraries to support the educational needs of students of Mexican American and U.S. Hispanic culture and history. It is also designed to support the research activities of the faculty of the Center for Mexican American Studies.
Housed in the Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection, library materials acquired through the program relate to the history, politics, and culture of the mexicano experience in Texas and the Southwestern United States. U.S. Hispanic groups are also represented in the collection, notably those of Puerto Rican, Cuban, and Central American origin. Altogether an estimated 15,000 books and journals, 2,200 reels of microfilm, 70 archival collections, and audio and videocassettes, posters, calendars, photographs and slides in the Benson Collection are on these topics.
The Benson Collection serves as the repository for the papers of LULAC, the oldest national Hispanic civic organization in existence, founded in 1929. The records include official documents, correspondence, photographs, and other ephemera. They detail a variety of social, educational, and political events.
Carlos Villalongín Dramatic Company Records
Photographs, playbills, and 247 printed and handwritten playscripts of a traveling theater group that performed in Mexico, Texas, and other parts of the Southwest from 1849 to 1930.
Raza Unida Party of Texas Record Correspondence, speeches, minutes, memoranda, news clippings, reports, slides, photographs, and ephemera from 1970 to 1980.
Economy Furniture Company Strike Records
Legal records, as well as strike and boycott materials of the Upholsterers' International Union (UIU) Local No. 456 of Austin, Texas, document a lengthy (1968-1972) labor dispute between Mexican American employees and management.
Juárez-Lincoln University Records
Administrative records including correspondence, faculty and student information, financial records, and grant proposals relating to a Chicano-oriented alternative education institution which flourished in the 1970s in Austin.
National Association for Chicano Studies Records
The records of the organization, established in 1974, that promotes scholarly and interdisciplinary research relating to Mexican Americans.
Carlos Eduardo Castañeda Papers
Correspondence, manuscripts, memoranda, news clippings, reports, speeches, lectures, and other material assembled by the late historian, educator, librarian (1896-1958), and author of Our Catholic Heritage in Texas,1519-1936.
George I. Sánchez Papers
Papers of this educator and civil rights proponent include correspondence with politicians and civic leaders, legal documents, manuscripts, photographs, and engagement calendars during the period 1928 to 1971.
Eleuterio Escobar Papers
Notable among the papers generated by this San Antonio businessman and leader of educational rights for Mexican American school children (1894-1970) are documents relating to the Liga Pro-Defensa Escolar (School Improvement League), as well as correspondence and business records.
Catarino E. Garza Diary
Journalist and revolutionary, Garza produced 280 handwritten pages in a bound journal which describe the socio-political conditions, conflicts, and events relating to Mexicans and Mexican Americans living in South Texas and St. Louis, Missouri, between 1877 and 1889.
Rómulo Munguía Papers
The papers of Munguía (1885-1975), a San Antonio printer, publisher and founder of civic organizations promoting Mexican culture.
Joe Bernal Papers
Scrapbooks, correspondence, news clippings, reports, speeches, campaign material, and other documents tracing Bernal's career in the Texas Legislature from 1965 to 1971.
José Angel Gutiérrez Papers
Papers of this Chicano activist's political career in Texas include correspondence, records of his tenure as Crystal City school board member and Zavala County judge, grant proposals, legal documents, Raza Unida Party election materials, video-cassettes, and photographs, from the 1960s to early 1980s.
Julián Samora Papers
Manuscripts, lecture and research notes, correspondence, news clippings, speeches, reports and other publications generated by the noted sociologist, professor emeritus of Notre Dame University and pioneer in the fields of Mexican migration to the U.S. and immigration policy issues, 1940s to 1985.
Alurista Papers
Materials dated 1968-1979 include handwritten and typescript poems, essays, articles, scripts, journals, notes, layouts, news clippings, and other materials by this significant Chicano poet.
Juan Bruce-Novoa
Handwritten and typescript manuscripts, poems, short fiction, audiocassette recordings, and publications produced by this Chicano writer, teacher and critic; 1970s and 1980s.
Abelardo B. Delgado Papers
Includes poetry, short stories, essays, articles, newsletters, and news clippings by and about Abelardo, a Chicano poet, writer, and community organizer; covers periods 1958-1960 and 1968-1980.
Rolando Hinojosa-Smith Papers
Spanning the 1970s, this prize-winning Chicano novelist, essayist and poet's collection assembles manuscripts, drafts, notes, galley proofs, and correspondence.
Carlos Morton Papers
Manuscripts in this collection include drafts of the playwright's Malinche, Johnnie Tenorio, Espíritu, and Rancho Hollywood; also includes essays, articles, research notes, news clippings, and slides (1974-1989).
Ricardo Sánchez Papers
Handwritten and typed drafts of published and unpublished works, correspondence, legal documents, and photographs relating to this leading Chicano poet, editor, and critic; covers 1961 to early 1980s.
Estela Portillo Trambley Papers
Working drafts, scripts, notes, notebooks, plays, short stories, essays, poems, a novella, a novel, correspondence, audiovisual, and other material generated by this Chicana playwright and novelist; covers 1965 to 1978.