The Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies

of The Historical Society of Pennsylvania

 Latino

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LATINO

(see also Colombian, Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, and Spanish)

MANUSCRIPT COLLECTIONS

Concerned Citizens of North Camden

Records, 1980-1988.  4 ft.  Concerned Citizens of North Camden was founded by North Camden residents in 1978 in the attempt to persuade city officials to assist locals in redeveloping their neighborhood into a better place to live.  Concerned Citizens of North Camden assisted in rehabilitating boarded-up houses for fellow neighborhood residents, worked to ensoure community input regarding Camden's waterfront redevelopment project, and encouraged businesses to move into the area.  The collections consists of organizational histories, correspondence, meeting minutes, grant applications, financial records, property and applicant lists for the Home Ownership Program, administrative forms, brochures, pamphlets, leaflets, and newspaper clippings.  Portions of the Home Ownership application records are restricted.  Gift of the Organization

Congreso de Latinos Unidos, Inc.

Records, 1970-1990.  4 folders.  The collection contains printed materials and ephemera concerning the Congreso and its activities.  In English.  Inventory available.  Gift of the organization.

Council of Spanish-Speaking Organizations (El Concilio)

Records, ca. 1977-1988.  34 ft.  The Council was organized in 1962 as a liaison between the Spanish-speaking and non-Latino communities, and intended to coordinate existing Spanish organizations and to create new programs and activities for their constituents.  Non-profit social organizations serving the Latino or Puerto Rican communities are eligible for membership.  Concilio sponsors the annual Puerto Rican Week festival and parade.  Records include program files, correspondence, financial records, and other administrative files.  In Spanish and English.  Inventory available.  Gift of the organization.

Hispanic Federation for Social and Economic Development

Records, 1973-1985.  12 ft.  The Hispanic Federation for Social and Economic Development was a non-profit organization serving Puerto Ricans and Latinos in Philadelphia.  Established in 1981, the organization mirrored the goals of its founder, attorney Luis P. Diaz, who perceived the need for an agency to serve as a middleman between the city's predominantly non-Hispanic banks, corporations, public agencies, and planning officials on the one hand and Philadelphia's growing - but socially and economically disadvantaged - population of Spanish-speaking inhabitants on the other.  The Federation helped make resources and services available to a network of organizational members and affiliate groups made up of community-based organizations in Latino neighborhoods, until it went bankrupt in 1985.  This collection is particularly rich in information that details the evolution of housing and community development programs involving Philadelphia-area Hispanics between 1981 and 1985.  Included are correspondence, grant applications, reports, memoranda, financial records, newspaper clippings, project files for the Housing Initiative Program and the Human Services Program, and maps and other data collected by Federation staff during a 1982 Vacant Properties Survey of North Philadelphia.  Portions of the collection are restricted.  In English.  Gift of Luis P. Diaz.

Latin American Guild for the Arts

Records, 1988-1991.  1 folder.  The Latin American Guild for the Arts was founded in Philadelphia in 1987.  The organization sponsors cultural events featuring Hispanic performers and Spanish or Latin American music, poetry, and dance.  In English.  Inventory available.  Gift of Maria Taylor.

The Latino Project

Records, 1962-1985.  15 ft.  The Latino Project, headed by attorney Luis P. Diaz, was a non-profit legal assistance and public advocacy organization that provided representation to Spanish-speaking groups and interests in Greater Philadelphia area.  Until its demise in 1984, The Latino Project was particularly concerned with protecting and developing employment opportunities in the public and private sectors under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (which forbade job discrimination on the basis of national origin) and providing legal representation under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act (which forbade the exclusion of Latinos from participating in any federally assisted program and required such programs to affirmatively benefit Puerto Ricans and other Spanish-speaking people).  This collection consists of the files of the Latino Project from the mid-1970s through 1982.   Included are correspondence, memoranda, minutes, grant applications, clippings, newsletters, and other items pertaining to the work of the project and its executive director, advisory board, and staff.  Of special interest are legal case files and court proceedings documenting a number of discrimination cases involving the employment of Puerto Ricans and Latinos in Philadelphia.  The files also reflect the organization's interest in bilingual education, expanding educational and employment opportunities for Hispanics, and in improving the delivery of general health care and mental health services for Spanish-speaking clients.  In English.  Gift of Luis P. Diaz.

Pan American Association

Records, 1950-1981.  4 ft.  The Pan American Association was formed ca. 1940 as a non-profit organization "to promote cultural and educational activities designed to solidify the peoples of the Americas."  The collection includes correspondence, minutes, printed materials, clippings, and uncatalogued photographs.  In English.  Inventory available.  Gift of Sister Mary Consuelo via Temple University Urban Archives.

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