The Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College Receives State Award For Documenting New York's History Date: October 4, 2002
Contact: Marisa Osorio (marisa.osorio@hunter.cuny.edu)
Phone: (212) 650-3736
The New York State Board of Regents and the State Archives have awarded the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College (Centro) with the 2002 Debra E. Bernhardt Annual Archives Award for Excellence in documenting New York's history.
The award was presented to F?lix Matos Rodr'guez, Centro's director and N?lida P?rez, associate director of Centro's library and archives during a ceremony at the state education department in Albany on October 3.
The award is named after the late Dr. Debra E. Bernhardt, former director of the Wagner Labor Archives at New York University. It is presented to an individual or organization in New York that has demonstrated leadership in documenting the history of groups who traditionally have been omitted from the historical record.
"This award acknowledges our tremendous efforts and track record in preservation and access," Rodriguez said. "I hope it encourages additional support for our efforts to
preserve and disseminate the historical legacy and importance of the Puerto Rican and Latino communities in New York."
The Library and Archives of the Center for Puerto Rican Studies were commended for ensuring that the history of the Puerto Rican community in New York is preserved and made accessible for future generations. It recognized Centro's strong outreach program that has made previously unknown archival records accessible to students, teachers, scholars, genealogists and the community at large.
This is the second time the NY State Archives recognized Centro with an award ÷ the first was in 1994 and was for excellence in archival work.
Centro is the only university-based research institute in the United States devoted to the interdisciplinary study of the Puerto Rican experience and the oldest and largest Latino research and archival institution in the Northeast. Its Library and Archives are the principal Puerto Rican Studies research collection in the country and the most extensive Latino research and archival facility in the Northeastern United States. It is also the only library and archives in the State of New York exclusively dedicated to Puerto Rican and Latino documentation. Open Monday through Saturday, more than 12,000 users per year use the library.
Centro's archival holdings include about 90 archival collections and more than 5,000 cubic feet of archival material. The holdings include the records of major institutions and community organizations, such as the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, ASPIRA of New York, the United Bronx Parents Association, and the papers from elected officials, community activists, labor leaders, intellectuals, and artists. Some of the individuals in the archive include: Oscar Garc'a Rivera, the first Puerto Rican elected to public office in the United States in 1937; Antonia Pantoja, educator and founder of several Puerto Rican organizations in New York City; Pura Belpr?, writer, folklorist, and the first Puerto Rican to work as a librarian in the New York Public Library system; and Clemente Soto Velez, one of Puerto Rico's most important 20th century poets. The Centro Archives is also completing the processing of the Records of the Migration Division of the Government of Puerto Rico, probably the largest collection of migration-related materials for an individual migrant group in the United States.
Hunter College, founded in 1870, has long enjoyed a national reputation for excellence in liberal arts and sciences and professional education. Hunter's main campus, located on 68th Street on Manhattan's Upper East Side, consists of the School of Arts and Sciences and School of Education. The college also includes a school of Social Work on East 79th Street as well as the Schools of the Health Professions (Nursing and Health Sciences) located at the Brookdale Health Science Center on East 25th Street; an MFA building and art gallery on the West Side; and the Hunter College Campus Schools serving gifted and talented students, preschool through grade 12.
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