Catalina Delgado-Trunk Papers BY DANIEL ARBINO God, greed, and glory. These values propelled a cataclysm in Tenochtitlan of never-before-seen proportions when Spaniards entered the heart of the Mexica empire with conquest on their mind in 1519. A world was turned upside down, and in its … [Read more...] about Staff Pick: Tecuichpoch / Doña Isabel de Moctezuma—Madre del Mestizaje
Benson Latin American Collection
Staff Pick: “Camas para Sueños” by Carmen Lomas Garza
Carmen Lomas Garza Papers and Artworks BY SUSANNA SHARPE The first time I saw Camas para Sueños (Beds for Dreams) was at the Laguna Gloria Art Museum in Austin, at an exhibition of works by Carmen Lomas Garza. I remember being moved to tears by the painting. Two sisters lie on a rooftop in the … [Read more...] about Staff Pick: “Camas para Sueños” by Carmen Lomas Garza
(Self)Love in the Time of COVID
BY DANIEL ARBINO IT WAS INEVITABLE: the scent of fresh cut grass reminded me that we were in the middle of spring in Austin, Texas.1 I was surrounded by green: leaves, lawns, and the lingering light following an afternoon storm. Yet it was not the storm that forced neighbors to stay indoors, … [Read more...] about (Self)Love in the Time of COVID
From the Director
THIS IS MY LAST DIRECTOR'S LETTER for Portal, and while time feels as if it’s flown by, LLILAS Benson has achieved many milestones since my term began. In the past four years, the partnership between the academic unit, LLILAS, and the library, Benson, grew from an experiment in collaborative … [Read more...] about From the Director
Celebrating a Century
IT'S DECEMBER 1, 1920, in Mexico City. After witnessing the inauguration of President Álvaro Obregón, University of Texas Regent H.J. Lutcher Stark and Chair of Latin American History Charles Wilson Hackett stumble upon an amazing find as they walk down Madero Street. Historian and head librarian … [Read more...] about Celebrating a Century
Staff Pick: Ernesto Cardenal in Solentiname
Ernesto Cardenal in Solentiname, Ernesto Cardenal Papers, 1925–2016 BY DYLAN JOY The acquisition of the Ernesto Cardenal Papers in 2016 marked a renewed focus by LLILAS Benson on collecting and preserving collections and stories from Central America. Cardenal, who passed away at 95 in March … [Read more...] about Staff Pick: Ernesto Cardenal in Solentiname
Message from the Benson Collection Director
I AM SO PROUD to feature the Benson Centennial in Portal. While it is impossible to tell the complete story of this great library in a single issue, nearly every piece of this edition provides a glimpse of what has been created over the past one hundred years, from the foundational Genaro García … [Read more...] about Message from the Benson Collection Director
Inside the Agrasánchez Collection of Mexican Cinema
BY DIEGO GODOY THE YOUNG HIGINIO GRANDA stood soldierly as he faced a mansion on Colón Street in Mexico City. Blond, svelte, and possessing a peninsular accent, he had the ability to pass as a “decent” person. But he was far from it, as his over twenty stints in jail might suggest. … [Read more...] about Inside the Agrasánchez Collection of Mexican Cinema
Staff Pick: Manifesto ao povo nordestino
Margaret Keck Collection of Brazilian Labor Movement Materials BY RYAN LYNCH As staff processed the Margaret Keck Collection, I peeked into a folder of Worker’s Party (PT) election ephemera from 1982. This was the first year that the PT, the party of future president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, … [Read more...] about Staff Pick: Manifesto ao povo nordestino
Staff Pick: Student Activism in the Archives
BY ALBERT A. PALACIOS Uruguayan Political Propaganda, 1963–1984 There is a very serious plague that has been scourging through the country for years now, and that plague is imperialism. In the summer of 1969, Uruguayan trade unions flooded the streets of Montevideo to protest the visit of … [Read more...] about Staff Pick: Student Activism in the Archives
