Photo: Olgalucía Jordán

MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR

The Latin American Library (LAL) is buzzing with renewed energy! 2023-2024 is a momentous year as we mark the centennial of Latin American Studies at Tulane.  One hundred years of dedication to exceptional scholarship and collections on the region is truly a remarkable milestone.  At LAL we have every intention of making the library’s historic role in this collective accomplishment a memorable one. This sense of renewal, excitement, and new beginnings also includes Tulane Libraries.  We begin the year by extending the warmest of welcomes to a new Dean of Libraries and Academic Information Services at Tulane, Lindsay Cronk, as we look forward to working together on new and exciting ways to continue to flourish and grow. 

To mark this moment of reflecting on the past and embracing the promise of the future, we unveil the new LAL logo. The design acknowledges the foundational collections of the library, figuratively represented by the pictograph of a jewel from the Codex Tulane, while anchored in a contemporary aesthetic.  I love how it captures the ethos of the LAL. The circle, traditionally a sign of universal knowledge, integrity, and completeness, is not closed in on itself but is rather playfully configured with the shapes of the letters L A L, suggesting labyrinthine paths that are open-ended—a library that invites you to explore.  So, too, this newsletter begins a new tradition. Projected to appear bi-annually, at the start of each semester, this first issue gathers together current happenings in the Fall and points to some events we are looking forward to in the Spring. In time, new features and subsections may be added as things evolve. Read on to find out more about everything that’s happening at the LAL as we get ready for the next 100 years of Latin America at Tulane. 

Hortensia Calvo, Doris Stone Librarian and Director

The 17th annual LAL Open House will be held on September 29. This is our yearly event to welcome new and returning faculty, students, staff, and friends of the LAL featuring an exhibit of recent acquisitions and our ever-popular book sale.

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Back by popular demand! Led by LAL office coordinator Verónica Sánchez, the staff of the LAL will prepare an altar celebrating the Day of the Dead, traditionally observed on All Soul’s Day, November 2, when we honor departed loved ones who have passed away. In Mexico, it is a time to remember the dead, but it is not a solemn occasion! The ofrenda will be available for viewing October 23 to November 17 in the LAL special collections reading room and gallery.

On November 10, the LAL and the Emeritus Club of the Tulane Alumni Association will co-host a talk by art historian and alumna Penny C. Morrill who will speak on early 20th century Mexican art and the silver design renaissance that took place in the town of Taxco. 

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Thanks to a generous gift from the late Dr. Charles E. Stokes, Jr. and funding from Tulane Libraries, we now have a greatly expanded, state-of-the-art seminar room.

Juan Pablo Gómez joined the LAL staff on May 18. Hailing from Managua, Nicaragua, his many accomplishments and professional trajectory are welcome assets to the library’s collections and services. 

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The LAL’s latest digital collection in the Tulane University Digital Library (TUDL) is the Merle Greene Robertson Collection of Maya Rubbings, and it is part of a unique international effort to engage with Mayan hieroglyphs in unprecedented ways for anyone with a computer and internet connection. 

The LAL is partnering with the Library of Congress to make available for research the Alfredo A. Massi Collection of Salvadorean film, a unique collection of early 20th century motion pictures produced by this Italian-Salvadoran filmmaker (1899-1981).  Most of these films have not been seen by the public since at least the 1950s.  

After a pandemic-imposed hiatus, we are delighted to resume Richard E. Greenleaf Fellowship Program at the LAL, who will be in New Orleans in Spring 2024.  Meet the first two scholars.

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Richard E. Greenleaf Library Fellows 2020, left to right: Osmundo Pinho, Sofía Vindas Solano, and Daniel Party

Tulane will be the site of the 69th annual meeting of the Seminar on the Acquisition of Latin American Library Materials (SALALM) 8-12 June at the New Orleans Marriott Hotel in the French Quarter.  Since 1956, SALALM is the foremost professional association for Latin Americanist academic library and archival collections. 

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The LAL and the Middle American Research Institute (MARI) are developing a joint exhibit commemorating the centennial of Latin American Studies at Tulane.  The exhibit is scheduled to open on 9 June 2024 in tandem with the annual meeting of the Seminar on the Acquisition of Latin American Library Materials (SALALM) in New Orleans.

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Department of Middle American Research, c. 1930s.

Researcher at the LAL, 1978.