The University of Oregon has significant resources relating to Latino history in the state of Oregon and elsewhere. This research action project brings together the Latino Roots in Oregon project, The PCUN-UO Partnership, and the Oregon Latino Heritage projects to partner with schools, community organizations, libraries, and other public venues to make resources in Latino History available to a broad public audience. The RAP also encourages others to create their own Latino history projects and archives.
Component parts are:
- Latino Roots is a multifaceted project that aims to broaden the historical narrative of the state of Oregon through documenting the depth and breadth of Latino and Latin American immigration, settlement, social movements, and civic and political integration in Oregon. It includes a traveling exhibit, bilingual book, 38 videos, courses, a website, and ongoing student research projects. Over 13,000 people have seen the display since 2010. Beginning in the fall of 2013, the Latino Roots Exhibit and materials will travel to high schools in Oregon visited by the Oportunidades Program.
- The PCUN-UO Partnership celebrates the donation of the historic papers of Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Nordoeste (Northwest Treeplanters and Farmworkers United) to the UO Libraries’ Special Collections and University Archives, which preserves, organizes, and makes the papers available for research projects conducted by students, faculty, and others. PCUN is the largest Latino organization in Oregon, with more than 6,000 members.
- The Oregon Latino Heritage Collaborative (OLHC) is dedicated to opening new avenues to preserve, share, research, study and narrate Latino communities’ history as Oregon and American history. Currently, OLHC consists of CLLAS, UO Libraries, PCUN, Oregon Folklife Network, College of Arts and Sciences, Labor Education and Research Center, College of Education, and AMIGOS Multicultural Services Center. OLHC serves as a network to encourage archiving of Latino history materials in Oregon.
Future plans of this RAP include a summer institute for Oregon middle and high school teachers on Latino history that will train them to use the materials held in the PCUN Archives, the Latino Roots Project, and other papers housed at the University of Oregon. Additional plans are in the works for connecting with Lane Community College students and faculty.
Project Coordinator: Lynn Stephen, Distinguished Professor, Department of Anthropology, and Director, Center for the Study of Latino/a and Latin American Studies