Whether they are personal family photo albums or institutional records, photographic archives give voice to forgotten individuals, families and communities. Many of these repositories represent Americans at risk of being erased from history — willfully overlooked or inaccurately portrayed. But archives exist so that we don’t forget.
It was while researching a different idea, inspired by reading “Latinx Photography in the United States — A Visual History” by Elizabeth Ferrer, that I came across "Boston's Latinx Community History” archives online. Over 41,000 items were selected, digitized, and made freely available as a resource to the community, students and scholars. The items were drawn from two local partner organizations whose historical records were donated to Northeastern University, Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción and La Alianza Hispana.
My path to the archive started when I became inspired to research the history of Latino and Hispanic photographers in Boston — thanks to the afore mentioned book by Elizabeth Ferrer. In it I learned about photographers that documented the civil rights struggles and daily life in the Chicano communities of Los Angeles and the Nuyorican and Boricua communities of New York City and Chicago during the 60s and 70s.
Most of these photograher's have been largely underrepresented in the history of photography in the United States. A lot of their works were published in Spanish-language newspapers coming up at that time — especially in social justice newspapers such as La Raza and Palante. And although the Latino community of Boston at that time was not as sizable as those in LA and New York, I wondered: was something comparable happening in Boston at that time?
I spent hours straining my eyes looking through poorly scanned microfilm at BPL, but not much came from it. La Semana and El Planeta were Spanish-language newspapers in the Boston-area getting their start in the mid to late 70s, their coverage more broad than just social justice and civil rights. Their audience simply not as sizable as those in Chicago, LA and New York. Wizzing through a number of years on microfilm I hit dead ends and my excitement for the hunt lost steam.
It was only after I received very helpful replies to queries made to the MFA and BPL that I found my way to the Northeastern archives. At first I was mostly focused on finding the names of photographers active in the community during the 60s and 70s. But the more time I spent looking at the photos housed there the more I started to see a history and a community in this city coming to life that I had never imagined before. A visual diary that chronicles Christmas pageants, Puerto Rican festivals, and community outreach programs — including a successful grassroots effort to help save a Puerto Rican South End community from the perils of gentrification.
Among these images of strangers I imagined my teenage mom with friends on a trip to the lake, a sassy glance to the camera that recalled my dear friend Natalie, and a babe in arms that could have been my cousin Dre. I saw myself in these photos too.
It was a side of Boston I never gave any thought to having existed at all.
After more than 8 years living in Boston, it was these photographs that helped me to truly feel like a Bostonian.
