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Michigan State University

Latinx Resources in Special Collections: Special Collections Latino Collection

Overview

Special Collections is a rich repository of Latin American, Latinx and Chicanx history and culture. As one of the largest repositories of Latinx and Chicanx material in the Midwest, collection highlights include: 

  • United Farm Workers' pamphlets and documents
  • Spanish language comics
  • poetry chapbooks by Chicana/o/x authors
  • popular culture materials from Central and South America
  • Mexican comics collections, includes many of the works of Rius (Eduardo Reyes) in both Spanish and English.
  • Midwest Latinx activism
  • More than 175 artists' books ranging from Cuba's Ediciones Vigía, Brazilian cordels ("stories on a string"), and cartoneras editions from Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay.

American Radicalism Vertical Files

Vertical files are a way for libraries to organize uncataloged materials by subject. The American Radicalism Vertical Files (ARVF) contain an extensive collection of pamphlets, flyers, clippings, leaflets, and other ephemeral material on over 2,300 topics. 

A vertical file may be started for a topic, such as food cooperatives, or an organization, such as the United Farm Workers.

You can browse our vertical file holdings by searching for "ARVF" in a catalog call number search, or to search for material in ARVF on a specific topic, search your chosen keyword and "ARVF".

Here are some Chicanx/Latinx topics found within ARVF: 

  • Braceros
  • Centro Campesino Cultural
  • Cesar Chavez
  • Chicana Service Action Center
  • Chicano Legal Defense Fund
  • Chicanos and Health
  • Concillo Mujeres
  • Farm Labor Organizing Committee
  • Farmworkers
  • Grape Strike and Boycott, Gallo Wine Boycott
  • Hispanic Americans
  • Mexican American Political Association
  • Mid-West Council of La Raza
  • Migrant Labor
  • Puerto Rico

MICHILAC

The Midwest Chicano/Latino Activism Collection (MICHILAC) is significant to researchers and students who require primary sources of Midwestern Chicana/o and Latina/o politics and life missing from American history, and Chicano and Latino texts that focus on Southwestern United States activities and events.

This site contains a selection of digitized material from the José F. Treviño Chicano/Latino Activism Collection held at MSU Special Collections. The collection characterizes Treviño’s advocacy work in the Midwest during a time when Chicano politics was on the rise. Influential primary sources in a variety of formats are found in this collection. They relate to the third-party politics of La Raza Unida Party and local politics in communities such as Lansing, Detroit and Saginaw. Types of material in the physical collection include:

Notable Collections

Listed below is a sampling of materials located with the Special Collections Latino Collection.