The Hispanic Division participated in the 5th annual “New Acquisitions” display for staff. This is a unique opportunity for the Library’s divisions to showcase recently acquired works now part of the national collections. Check out some highlights below from the Hispanic Division:

• Descripción de la Plaza de San Juan de Puerto Rico y el estado presente de sus fortificaciones / Description of the Plaza de San Juan in Puerto Rico and the condition of its fortifications. Hand written manuscript (1763) by Irish-born engineer Thomas O’Daly.
• Ferrocarril de Antioquia [Colombia]: Collection of Vintage Photographs and Notations. Collection includes three albums and loose photographs documenting a significant civil engineering project in Colombia, compiled by Joseph C. Hilton. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, acquired with Hispanic Division funds. 
• Manuel Buen-Abad photograph collection. Late nineteenth century photo albums and prints by Spanish-born photographer in Mexico. Also includes assorted manuscripts and photos owned by Buen-Abad. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, acquired with Hispanic Division funds.
• Otra piel para otra entraña / Another Skin for New Insides (2016) by Rolando Estevez and Ruth Behar. A creative twist on an anthology artist's book of female poets from Cuba and the United States in the form of a Victorian tea dress (see photo above) with handwritten scrolls. Otra piel is currently on display in the Hispanic Reading Room.
• [Photographic postcards of Mexico] (1900-1960) by Hugo Brehme, Ponce De Leon, Sabino Osuna and Mauricio Yáñez. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, acquired with Hispanic Division funds. 
• Tequila: el vuelo del mezcal azul por el paisaje agavero patrimonio mundial UNESCO text by Francisco Vidargas. Limited edition artist’s book includes 10 individual linoleum block prints signed and dated by artist Nacho Gomez Arriola. Library of Congress Hispanic Reading Room Reference Collection. 

Contact the Hispanic Division to learn more about any of these new acquisitions. Visit us in the Hispanic Reading Room (LJ 240), e-mail or call 202-707-5397.

We proudly introduce our Mexico: Hispanic Division Country Guide, the first online Research Guide in our Hispanic Division Country Guide series. Be on the lookout for more Research Guides on the series’ homepage as we continue to publish one for each country in the Luso-Hispanic world. These guides will provide a selection of Library of Congress resources pertaining to each country, including digitized primary source materials in a wide variety of formats, recommendations for books and periodicals, quick access links to online databases, and tips for searching the Library’s collections.  

When the news of the day seems overwhelming, nothing can soothe frayed nerves more than an interlude, however brief, with poetry or with nature. Listen to some of our audios from our Archive of Hispanic Literature on Tape (AHLOT), and some episodes from our podcast La Biblioteca, which include conversations about Pablo Neruda, Octavio Paz, and Carlos Drummond de Andrade, among other prominent Latin American poets. The Handbook of Latin American Studies (HLAS) can also point you to poetry resources. This annotation of Doble acento by the Cuban poet Eugenio Florit was written by HLAS Contributing Editor Francisco Cabanillas. Follow the link in the HLAS Web record to listen to an AHLOT recording of the poet reading his work.  

Thanks to everyone who joined our virtual #Herencia transcribe-a-thon on March 19! It was a great chance to get together virtually and help make these historical documents easier to find. We started transcribing 52 new pages, advanced 30 to review, and completed 19! Not bad for a day’s work. Even better, we exceeded our goal of 100 transcribers, with 112 as the day closed.

If you haven’t already, please check out this campaign, and try your hand at transcribing or reviewing the transcriptions awaiting a second pass.

We are excited to announce the publication of Puerto Rico's Plantation Economy: Snapshots from the Library of Congress, an online research guide providing access to historic photographs, film documentation, as well as related print and electronic resources illustrating the 20th century shift in Puerto Rico from a plantation to an industrial economy. This guide highlights key photographic collections from Jack and Irene Delano and Edwin and Louise Rosskam, two couples who documented a pivotal period in Puerto Rican economic history that left an impact in family structures, public health, education and work.

The Library of Congress celebrated its 220^th anniversary the last week of April! Check out this blog post put together by the Library’s international divisions in the 4 Corners of the World blog - Celebrating the Library’s 220th Anniversary with Open Access Digital Gifts from the International Collections. This blog highlights digitized collections, publications, and other electronic tools freely available to you while the physical Library of Congress buildings remain closed to the public.

Here are some quick links to the Hispanic Division’s very own offerings:

• Archive of Hispanic Literature on Tape
• The Handbook of Latin American Studies (HLAS)
• Herencia: Centuries of Spanish Legal Documents - The entire “Disease & Public Health” project is almost done with about 30 pages left to review!
• La Biblioteca Podcast

• LibGuides and Research Guides