Latin American Histories in the United States is a multi-archive resource compiled from archival collections located in the United States, providing users with access to primary sources describing the experience of Latina/o/x/e communities across the country, with a focus on underrepresented identities, including Latinas, LGBTQ+, and Afro-Latina/o/x/e.

Focusing on grassroots and community-generated content, this resource provides users not only with records of everyday life, but also how individuals and communities fought for their rights and cultural freedom during the Civil Rights era, the growth of movements, the exchange of ideas, the development of distinct political identities, and expressions of self through art and culture during the mid-to-late twentieth century.

For further information on the material selected for inclusion in this resource, visit the Selection Criteria and Guide to the Archival Collections.


Latin American Histories in the United States contains vital collections from local and national libraries across the United States, including:

  • Gerth Archives and Special Collections, California State University, Dominguez Hills
  • University of California, San Diego
  • CUNY Dominican Studies Institute, City College of New York
  • GLBT Historical Society, San Francisco


Due to the nature of these sources, graphic images and written accounts featuring violence, injury, death, sexually explicit content, child abuse, racism, homophobia, misogyny and explicit language can be found in this resource.

Please also note that, due to the period in which the primary sources in this resource were produced, some do contain language and terminology that is outdated, derogatory and offensive by modern standards. Learn more about our approach to terminology in this resource in the Language Statement.


The archival material in this resource consists of the following document types:

  • Art
  • Audio
  • Correspondence
  • Diaries
  • Ephemera
  • Minutes
  • Newsletters
  • Newspapers
  • Notes
  • Official Papers and Records
  • Pamphlets
  • Periodicals
  • Photographs
  • Postcards
  • Posters
  • Printed Books
  • Prompt Books
  • Reports
  • Scrapbooks
  • Sheet Music
  • Speeches
  • Transcripts
  • Video


Themes have been attributed to documents in Latin American Histories in the United States as metadata tags to enhance browsing functionality.

Use the filters in View Documents to focus on documents relevant to your research.


The metadata accompanying the documents in Latin American Histories in the United States has been drawn from library and archive catalogues, with additional data supplemented by the AM team to facilitate browsing and searching.

Metadata translation, where relevant for enhanced discoverability, has been carried out by a third party translation service using a combination of human expertise and applied AI. Translations have been quality checked and amended to account for the unique nature of the metadata and historical nuance. Please note, original terminology from the archival catalogue has been retained, and therefore translated metadata may contain outdated language which some may find distressing.

The metadata fields added by AM include:

  • Author/Creator/Manufacturer
  • Biographical Note
  • Color Format
  • Copyright
  • Document Type
  • Duration
  • Organizations
  • Publisher
  • Place of Publication
  • People
  • Places


In some cases, edits or additions have been made to metadata taken from the library and archive catalogues to improve searchability and to ensure that the language and terminology is aligned with our current editorial guidelines. This is true for the following metadata fields:

  • Title
  • Date
  • Reference
  • Collection Description
  • Description


For more information on language and terminology within this resource, please see our Language Statement.


Please note that some materials in this resource include personal information that has been redacted in order to protect the privacy of living individuals.


A variety of research tools provide further contextual information or guidance for teaching and research. From essays and video interviews to exhibitions and popular searches, explore the options under Research Tools or view the full list in Teaching Tools.