Puerto Rican Archives at The Newark Public Library


The Puerto Rican Archives at The Newark Public Library was very informational. We asked the archivist showing us around, why they chose to have Puerto Rican archives as opposed to other countries. He explained that Puerto Rico had one of the largest populations of Latinos present here in Newark. Also, the archivist who went searching for Puerto Rico’s archives was Puerto Rican herself. We noticed that Dr. Hilda Hidalgo had made large contributions to the archives. She was a former professor at Rutgers Newark. It was unfortunate to learn that many of the Latino Studies Programs that she advocated for no longer exist. Hearing about these programs being closed reminded me of the documentary “Precious Knowledge”. Any studies programs relating to Latin America and ethnic studies should not be closing down, especially with the high presence of Latinx Individuals in this country and Latinx students attending American public schools. I hope that sometime in the near future more ethnic studies are made easily available not only to college students but to public students as well, the way they once did in Tucson High School. The Puerto Rican archive is a start. The archive demonstrates the importance and strong impact Puerto Ricans have had in New Jersey. This is so meaningful to me because i was raised with Puerto Ricans. I had no idea about the Puerto Rican history including the Puerto Rican Riots in Newark. It’s amazing to see this knowledge being shared in a Library. It represents the diversity and respect for Latinx individuals in our city.

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