Research: Peoples, Groups, & Cultures: Guide to Historical Records Sources on Latinos

A Preliminary Guide to Historical Records Sources On Latinos In New York State

New York State Repositories

Adirondack Center Museum Library. Essex County Historical Society.

Elizabethtown, NY 12932
Phone: (518) 873-6466

  • Witherbee, Sherman, and Company
    Records of former employees, 1910-1937

    10 cu. ft.

    These records consist of an extensive card file with information on over 10,000 former employees of Witherbee, Sherman, and Company, an iron mining firm located in Mineville and Witherbee, Town of Moriah, Essex County. Nationality or ethnic background is identified for many workers.

    Population groups listed include Argentinians, Mexicans, Portuguese, Puerto Ricans, Salvadorians, and Spanish.

  • Tupper Lake Family Heritage Collection, 1960-present
    2 cu. ft.

    Note: This is a private collection, and access and use are entirely at the discretion of the owner. Researchers should contact the Librarian at the Adirondack Museum at (518) 352-7311 for further information.

    This family collection covers several generations of a family at Tupper Lake and earlier at its farm in Winthrop, near Brasher Falls in St. Lawrence County. Of particular interest are heritage albums prepared by three generations of this family, which include descriptions of activities, recollections, photographs, newspaper clipping, and essays concerning the lives and ancestry of earlier generations and the history of the Village of Tupper Lake. Activities described include schools, 4-H clubs, military service (especially during the Korean War), nursing, hunting, fishing, and other outdoor pursuits. In addition, this collection contains diaries, including one describing work at the Kildare Club, 1951-1853; photographs (covering various branches of the family over several generations); correspondence; genealogies; family Bibles; memorabilia; and a doll house resembling the interior of the family home in Winthrop; and numerous dolls made by hand in recent years.

    List of population groups includes Spanish.

Allard K. Lowenstein Public Library

111 West Park Avenue
Long Beach, N.Y. 11561
Phone: (516) 432-7201
Fax: (516) 889-4641

  • Allard K. Lowenstein Public Library (Long Beach, N.Y.)
    Local history collection, 1886-1991

    Ca. 8 cubic ft.

    Material relating to the history of Long Beach, N.Y., including reports, brochures, booklets, histories, maps, architectural drawings, scrapbooks, election records, political memorabilia, guidebooks, calendars, and clippings. Topics include government and politics in the City of Long Beach; the Police Department; proposals to legalize casino gambling; Jewish, Hispanic and other ethnic communities; housing, health care and adult residential care programs in the city; local residents including artists and writers; the local Arts Council; the League of Women Voters; architecture and real estate; and local schools.

    Items of note include minutes, correspondence, reports, architectural plans, charters, budgets, fliers and other records of the Public Library, 1928-1985; budgets of the City of Long Beach, and of the school district, 1976 to present; maps and brochures pertaining to land auctions, 1932-1985; posters, photographs, and other material on Congressman Allard K. Lowenstein, Democrat from Long Beach, including a tape of a radio interview; scrapbooks of clippings of editorials on local affairs, and a history of Long Beach; and audio tapes of talks on local architecture and an oral history workshop held at the library.

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Binghamton University. Special Collections.

Special Collections
Binghamton University Libraries
P.O. Box 6012
Binghamton, New York 13902-6012
Phone: (607) 777-4844

Some material documenting the Hispanic community at Binghamton University can be found in the University Archives collection. These items include:

El Azabache - a publication to unite the Hispanic community and to inform the Hispanic community on issues that may have an impact on them (1978, Fall/winter 1979)

La Voz, the official newspaper of the Latin American Student Union (March 1991-Winter 2000, missing 1993, 1995-98)

Newsletter of the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program (1972-1988)

Brooklyn Historical Society

128 Pierrepont Street
Brooklyn, New York 11201

Our temporary office during restoration (as of 5/23/00):
2 MetroTech Center, Suite 4200
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Phone: (718) 254-9830
Fax: (718) 254-9869

  • Brooklyn Historical Society.
    Puerto Rican oral history collection, 1973-1975.

    78 tapes for 68 interviews. Copies at Hunter College.

    Interviews with factory workers, community and political leaders, business people and professionals, and intellectuals dealing with the Puerto Rican community in Brooklyn from the 1920's on. Topics include work; politics, including Democratic, Republican, Liberal and Communist Parties; religious concerns; economic and social conditions; and problems of discrimination and relations with other groups. Community leaders discussed include Luis Weber, Carlos Tapia, Antonia Dennis, Luis Hernández, and Sister Carmelita Bonilla.

    There are transcripts and translations for some interviews.  Spanish, English.   List with abstracts.

Brooklyn Public Library

Grand Army Plaza
Brooklyn, NY 11238
Phone: (718) 230-2100

  • Jesús Colón, 1901-1974.
    Political materials, 1929-1963.

    2.5 linear ft.

    Political activist. Colón was active in Brooklyn, Puerto Rican, and labor organizations. Contains posters, photographs, circulars, periodicals, and some correspondence that originated with Puerto Rican civic, social, and political organizations. Organizations represented include Club Hijas del Caribe; Luchadores del Porvenir Puertorriqueño; Liga Puertorriqueña e Hispana; Mutualista Hispano-Americana; American Labor Party, Kings County; Club Pasionaria, Communist Party; Vanguardia Puertorriqueña; International Workers Order (IWO); Sociedad Fraternal Cervantes; Puerto Rican Hurricane Welfare Committee of Brooklyn; and Democratic Party groups. Also included is a photo of Emilia Colón (no relation) who was the first Puerto Rican woman radio commentator.

    Spanish, ca. 10% English. Preliminary inventory prepared by Brooklyn Rediscovery.

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Center for Migration Studies

209 Flagg Place
Staten Island, New York 10304

  • American Italian Historical Association.
    American Italian Historical Association records, 1916-1976

    6.0 cubic ft.

    The AIHA was founded in 1966 to collect, preserve, and publish materials on the history of Italians in the U.S. and Canada. The AIHA NEWSLETTER, 1966-75; correspondence with individuals and organizations, 1963-75; financial records, 1967-74; clippings, press releases, brochures, and photographs, 1966-72; conference materials and proceedings, 1968-75; correspondence and bibliographies on proposed studies, 1964-68; and clippings, pamphlets, programs, bulletins, agenda, minutes, reports, speeches, and interviews concerning immigration and Italians, 1916-69, with materials prior to 1963 from the files of Dr. Leonard Covello. Among the latter materials are items pertaining to Black and Puerto Rican organizations in East Harlem.

Centro de Estudios Puertorriqueños.

See City University of New York. Hunter College. Centro de Estudios Puertorriqueños.

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