Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1965- (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
2 boxes
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Puerto Rico has been dominated by the United States since its seizure from Spain in 1898. Its ambiguous status, resolved first by making it an unincorporated territory of the United States in 1917 and then by according it Commonwealth status in 1952, persists to this day. Puerto Ricans are citizens of the United States, serve in its armed forces and yet cannot vote in Presidential elections. Unsurprisingly constitutional issues feature prominently in the materials held here, with both pro-independence groups on the island and in the United States represented as well as the United Nations Commission on De-Colonization. However, there is a lack of material from those parties which have successfully won referenda to maintain the island's current status, as well as from those who campaign for Puerto Rico to become the 51st state, and probably a disproportionate quantity from the anti-American left.
Archival history
The majority of the materials held in the political archives of the Library Institute of Latin American Studies originate from the Contemporary Archive on Latin America (CALA), a documentation and research centre on Latin America which donated its holdings upon its closure in 1981. This core collection has continued to be supplemented by further donations and by materials acquired through the visits of Institute staff and their contacts to the relevant countries.
GB 3032 EH 320 PAM 1965- Collection (Fonds) 2 boxes Institute for the Study of the Americas
Puerto Rico has been dominated by the United States since its seizure from Spain in 1898. Its ambiguous status, resolved first by making it an unincorporated territory of the United States in 1917 and then by according it Commonwealth status in 1952, persists to this day. Puerto Ricans are citizens of the United States, serve in its armed forces and yet cannot vote in Presidential elections. Unsurprisingly constitutional issues feature prominently in the materials held here, with both pro-independence groups on the island and in the United States represented as well as the United Nations Commission on De-Colonization. However, there is a lack of material from those parties which have successfully won referenda to maintain the island's current status, as well as from those who campaign for Puerto Rico to become the 51st state, and probably a disproportionate quantity from the anti-American left.
The majority of the materials held in the political archives of the Library Institute of Latin American Studies originate from the Contemporary Archive on Latin America (CALA), a documentation and research centre on Latin America which donated its holdings upon its closure in 1981. This core collection has continued to be supplemented by further donations and by materials acquired through the visits of Institute staff and their contacts to the relevant countries.
Institute for the Study of the Americas
Articles, factsheets, conference documents, pamphlets, bulletins, programs, reports and histories, 1965 onwards, issued by American Friends Service Committee, Asociación Cubana de las Naciones Unidas, Caribbean Labour Solidarity, Committee for Puerto Rican Decolonization, Committee for Puerto Rican Independence, Conferecia Internacional de Solaridad con la Independencia de Puerto Rico, Liga Socialista Puertorriqueña, Movimiento de Izquierda Nacional Puertorriqueño, Movimiento de Liberación Nacional (P.R.), Movimiento Ecumenico Nacional de Puerto Rico, New Movement in Solidarity with Puerto Rican Independence and Socialism, Partido Independentista Puertorriqueño, Partido Socialista Puertorriqueña, Russell Tribunal on Repression in Brazil, Chile, and Latin America, United Nations Comité de Puerto Rico, and United States Dept. of State.
Further accruals are expected, some in electronic form.
Randomly within boxes (at present).
Open for reference purposes to all researchers and postgraduate students.
Copies can usually be obtained - apply to library staff.
Spanish and English
Records at item level on library catalogue (SASCAT)
See also Political Pamphlet material for the rest of Latin America, as well as related material in the library's main classified sequence, all held in the ILAS library.
Description compiled by Daniel Millum, Political Archives Project Officer at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies and the Institute for the Study of the Americas.
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.
Created 01/02/2005 AIM25 American Friends Service Committee Asociación Cubana de las Naciones Unidas Caribbean Caribbean Labour Solidarity Collective human rights Colonial countries Committee for Puerto Rican Decolonization Committee for Puerto Rican Independence Conferecia Internacional de Solaridad con la Independencia de Puerto Rico Decolonization Foreign relations International relations Liga Socialista Puertorriquena Movimiento de Izquierda Nacional Puertorriqueno Movimiento de Liberación Nacional Movimiento Ecumenico Nacional de Puerto Rico New Movement in Solidarity with Puerto Rican Independence and Socialism North America Partido Independentista Puertorriqueno Partido Socialista Puertorriquena Political science Political systems Politics Puerto Rico Russell Tribunal on Repression in Brazil, Chile and Latin America Self determination United Nations Comité de Puerto Rico USA US Department of State
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Institute for the Study of the Americas
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Articles, factsheets, conference documents, pamphlets, bulletins, programs, reports and histories, 1965 onwards, issued by American Friends Service Committee, Asociación Cubana de las Naciones Unidas, Caribbean Labour Solidarity, Committee for Puerto Rican Decolonization, Committee for Puerto Rican Independence, Conferecia Internacional de Solaridad con la Independencia de Puerto Rico, Liga Socialista Puertorriqueña, Movimiento de Izquierda Nacional Puertorriqueño, Movimiento de Liberación Nacional (P.R.), Movimiento Ecumenico Nacional de Puerto Rico, New Movement in Solidarity with Puerto Rican Independence and Socialism, Partido Independentista Puertorriqueño, Partido Socialista Puertorriqueña, Russell Tribunal on Repression in Brazil, Chile, and Latin America, United Nations Comité de Puerto Rico, and United States Dept. of State.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
Further accruals are expected, some in electronic form.
System of arrangement
Randomly within boxes (at present).
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Open for reference purposes to all researchers and postgraduate students.
Conditions governing reproduction
Copies can usually be obtained - apply to library staff.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
- Latin
Language and script notes
Spanish and English
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
See also Political Pamphlet material for the rest of Latin America, as well as related material in the library's main classified sequence, all held in the ILAS library.
Finding aids
Records at item level on library catalogue (SASCAT)
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
Language(s)
- English