Richard Wyatt, Jr.: A Blessed Life of Art and Music

In February 2023, Dr. Bridget Cooks and I had the pleasure of interviewing the Los Angeles-based visual artist and songwriter Richard Wyatt, Jr., for the Getty Research Institute’s African American Art History Initiative. Wyatt was a joy to interview, making us laugh constantly and sharing what he called Forrest Gump moments, where he was in the right place at the right time to meet and collaborate with celebrities of all stripes. 

A little over a year after this delightful interview, Bridget and I were saddened to hear that Richard had passed away in May 2024. The world has lost a kind and funny man, as well as an talented artist, musician, educator, and thinker. 

While I continue to mourn Richard’s passing, I also want to celebrate his life by highlighting the wonderful stories he shared in his oral history about life, art, music, and seeking new challenges.

Joyce and Richard Wyatt
Joyce and Richard Wyatt, c. 1980s.

Richard Wyatt, Jr., was an artist whose work includes drawings, paintings, installations, and public art. Wyatt was born in Lynwood, California, in 1955, and lived in the Los Angeles area his whole life. He began his art career early, winning the Watts Chalk-In at twelve years old, and then studying at the Watts Towers Art Center, the Chouinard Art Institute, and the Tutor/Art Program with artist Charles White. Wyatt attended the University of California, Los Angeles, where he earned a BFA in art. Some of his best-known work in Los Angeles includes the mural Hollywood Jazz: 1945-1972 on the Capitol Records Building; the mural City of Dreams, River of History in Union Station; and the installation Ripple of Hope at Robert F. Kennedy Inspiration Park. Wyatt taught drawing and painting at the University of California, Irvine; the Otis Art Institute; and the Watts Towers Art Center. He also had a career as a songwriter, writing songs for musicians like The Miracles, The Sylvers, and New Edition. 

One thing that continues to strike me about Richard is the indelible mark he has left on the world—and I mean that literally. Some of Richard’s best-known work was his public art, which adorned buildings and other public places in the Los Angeles area and beyond. For this reason, Bridget found interviewing Richard almost surreal. In the oral history, she explained, “…your work is part of my Los Angeles,” for indeed, Richard’s public art shaped the city in which she grew up. After our first day of interviews, Cooks and I drove around Downtown Los Angeles, pointing out and visiting sites where Richard’s work dotted the landscape: Union Station, Robert F. Kennedy Inspiration Park, the Capitol Records Building, and on and on.

Image of Union Station
“City of Dreams, River of History” mural by Richard Wyatt, Jr., Eastern Lobby of Union Station, 1996. This mural was part of a larger collaboration with artist May Sun and architect Paul Diez.

One of Richard’s most famous murals, Hollywood Jazz: 1945-1972, remains on the Capitol Records Building, although he later replaced the paint on this south-facing exterior wall with ceramic tile to combat the ravages of the sun. When Richard accepted the commission for this work, it was the perfect blend of his love of visual art and his passion for music. In this mural, he memorialized jazz greats, such as Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Miles Davis, and Nat King Cole. And in one of those Forrest Gump moments, Richard met musician Bonnie Raitt on site at the Capitol Records Building during his original installation. Listen as Richard recounted this moment:

Richard also mused about the role of an artist after unveiling a work of public art, sharing his thoughts on the impact of his public work: “…you can’t control it…Once it’s out there, it’s out there. People are going to interpret it and take pictures.” And while we spoke about the joys of creating art for wide public consumption, Richard also acknowledged some of the challenges inherent in this work. Listen as Richard shared about some of his public art work with collaborator and fellow artist May Sun:

Richard’s talent also extended to music, and resulted in a prolific career as a songwriter for musical artists such as The Miracles, The Sylvers, Peaches & Herb, Tavares, Johnny Gill, and New Edition. Richard wrote his first song, “Keep on Keepin’ On (Doin’ What You Do)” for The Miracles when he was just eighteen years old. But for Richard, visual art and music were always intertwined, as he experienced synesthesia, a sensory condition in which, among other things, allows some people see colors when they hear music. Richard explained his synesthesia this way:

“I didn’t even know that term until somebody else told me…When I’m writing, that’s one thing. But once I start arranging it and getting the bass and guitar, and then you get strings and horns, there are certain sounds that have a color associated with them. I can’t explain it, but…I see colors once I hear a certain sound, you know? And when I’m creating the arrangements, or even mixing or whatever, and I’m going for a certain effect, it’s like once you get mixing, to me it’s like glazing in oil. That’s the easiest way I can explain it.”

Richard was a child prodigy who burst into the art world when he was twelve years old, rubbing elbows with more experienced art world talents like Charles White, John Riddle, George Evans, and Bill Pajaud. Yet, Richard carved out a career all his own. And while he left us too soon, Richard’s art lives on. To celebrate this remarkable man and artist, I suggest spending time in Downtown Los Angeles and experiencing the work of Richard Wyatt, Jr., for yourself.

To learn more about Richard Wyatt, Jr.’s, extraordinary life and work, explore his oral history!

About the Oral History Center

The Oral History Center of The Bancroft Library preserves voices of people from all walks of life, with varying political perspectives, national origins, and ethnic backgrounds. We are committed to open access and our oral histories and interpretive materials are available online at no cost to scholars and the public. You can find our oral histories from the search feature on our home page. Search by name, keyword, and several other criteria. Sign up for our monthly newsletter featuring think pieces, new releases, podcasts, Q&As, and everything oral history. Access the most recent articles from our home page or go straight to our blog home.

 


Library Trial of Illiustrirovannaia Rossiia Digital Archive (1924-1939)

The UC Berkeley Libraries have started a trial of the East View database Illiustrirovannaia Rossiia Digital Archive (1924-1939). The trial can be accessed here.

The access is valid through October 24, 2024. If you are accessing it from an off-campus location, please use the VPN or Proxy. For more information on setting up your off-campus access, see here.

The page of all the issues for 1927 of Ilustrirovannaia Rossiia Journal. This journal was published in Paris, France
The page of all the issues for 1927 of Ilustrirovannaia Rossiia Journal.

About the journal:

Illiustrirovannaia Rossiia was a literary and illustrated weekly magazine published in Paris from 1924 to 1939. The journal was aimed mainly at the growing community of Russian immigrants who had left Russia after the Bolshevik Revolution. Thus, Illiustrirovannaia Rossiia offers a unique fund of linguistic and visual representations, providing an indispensable insight into Russian cultural life in exile.

The Illiustrirovannaia Rossiia Digital Archive offers this influential journal’s exhaustive and meticulously digitized collection. This archive is an indispensable research resource with 748 issues and over 21,000 pages.
Key features include:
Comprehensive page-level digitization
Faithful reproduction of original graphics
Enhanced search capabilities
Seamless cross-searching with East View’s extensive digital portfolio


Library Trial: Brill’s Cuban Culture and Cultural Relations, 1959-, Part 4: Music

The Library is currently trialing Brill’s Cuban Culture and Cultural Relations, Part IV: Music until October 14, 2024. The database can be accessed here.

This primary source collection documents the history of music in Latin America and the Caribbean, with a special focus on Revolutionary Cuba. It explores the role of music in society and covers festivals, performances, trends, and persons (musicians, composers, producers, etc.). The collection is scanned from the so-called “vertical archive” at Casa de las Américas in Havana, Cuba (source: Brill)

Title: Abelardo Barroso. 1968Localidad: Cuba Resumen: Entrevista al sonero cubano. Publicada en Bohemia. Coleccion: Colección Archivo Vertical type: Personalidades Estado conservation: Bueno Cant. Doc.: 1 documento
Title: Abelardo Barroso. 1968
Localidad: Cuba
Resumen: Entrevista al sonero cubano. Publicada en Bohemia.
Coleccion: Colección Archivo Vertical

 

Así canta y dice Puerto Rico. 1982Title: Así canta y dice Puerto Rico. 1982 Localidad: Cuba Resumen: Artículos sobre el citado evento, celebrado en Casa de las Américas. Artistas participantes. Publicado en Granma y Trabajadores. Coleccion: Colección Archivo Vertical type: Congreso
Así canta y dice Puerto Rico. 1982

Please use ez proxy or VPN if you are accessing the resource from an off-campus location. Please provide your feedback to your Librarian of the Caribbean and Latin American Studies at Lpendse (at) berkeley (dot) edu

Please access the resource here.

 


Latin American Studies Grants for Research: Vanderbilt University

VANDERBILT LIBRARY TRAVEL GRANTS

The Center for Latin America, Caribbean, and Latinx Studies (CLACX) at Vanderbilt offers a short-term library research grant to promote scholarly use of the library’s extensive Colombian collections. The Title VI National Resource Center grant from the US Department of Education funds the grant, which will be used during the fall or spring of 2024-5 and completed by July 2025. Recipients are awarded up to $2000 to support expenses such as airfare and lodging.

The Latin American collection is one of Vanderbilt’s longstanding strengths. In particular, the Colombian collection is one of the country’s most distinctive collections. Please refer to: a general description of Vanderbilt’s Latin American special collections. There are websites with digital content of some of the library’s prized distinctive collections: the Helguera Collection of Colombiana and the Delia and Manuel Zapata Olivella Collections. Finding aids are available for portions of these archival collections. Additional materials can be found in the Library’s catalog.

Questions regarding the collections or the application process should be directed to Paula Covington, Latin American, Iberian, and Latinx Librarian.

ELIGIBILITY:

  • Current scholars at a college or university or research institute
  • Faculty or students at the dissertation level
  • Demonstrated research and teaching interest in Latin America

The application deadline is October 1, 2024.  Questions regarding the collections or the application process should be directed to Paula Covington, Latin American Specialist. Applications should be sent to the Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx Studies (CLACX).

Please submit a current CV, budget, and statement about the research project. Include the topic, a plan of materials to be consulted, and a description of how the resources will enhance your teaching and/or your research project.

 Within two weeks following the completion of the access period, grantees are required to submit to the Center a one-page report detailing the work carried out during the grant period. Reports will be provided to the U.S. Department of Education for grant reporting purposes.

 BECAS PARA VISITAR LA BIBLIOTECA DE VANDERBILT

El Centro de Estudios de Latinoamérica, el Caribe y Latinx (CLACX) en Vanderbilt está ofreciendo becas para aquellos investigadores interesados en viajar a visitar la rica y extensa colección de materiales exclusivos en colombiana. Estas becas deben ser utilizadas durante el otoño del 2024 o en la primavera del 2025 y el viaje debe completarse en julio, 2025. Estos fondos vienen del Departamento de Educación Pública de los Estados Unidos “Title VI National Resource Center (NRC)” por hasta $2000 dólares para contribuir por hospedaje y/o vuelos.

COLECCION COLOMBIANA:

La Colección Latinoamericana de la Biblioteca de Vanderbilt es uno de sus más fuertes recursos reconocidos, en particular la colección Colombiana es una de las más distintiva en este país. Aquí encontrará su referencia y descripción: Latin American special collections. Tenemos paginas digitales en nuestro sitio web con selecciones de las colecciones prestigiadas como: La Helguera Collection of Colombiana y de Delia and Manuel Zapata Olivella Collections. Contamos con ayudas de búsqueda para visitar porciones disponibles de estos archivos: archival collections. También contamos con materiales adicionales que podrá encontrar aquí:

Library’s catalog.

Para cualquier pregunta con relación a las colecciones o proceso de aplicación, dirigirlas a Paula Covington, Latin American Specialist.

ELEGIBILIDAD:

  • Investigadores dados de alta en Universidades o Institutos
  • Estudiantes o facultad docente a nivel de posgrado
  • Demostrar que tiene intereses de investigación o enseñanza en Latinoamérica

REQUERIMIENTOS:

  • Fecha límite para aplicar es octubre 1, 2024. La aplicación debe ser mandada al Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx Studies (CLACX)
  • Por favor mande su CV, presupuesto de gastos, y un escrito sobre su proyecto de investigación. Incluya el tema que trabaja, que materiales consultara, y describa como estos recursos elevaran su proyecto y/o su docencia. Nos gustaría que compartiera su trabajo en una ponencia para nuestros colegas de Vanderbilt.
  • Durante las dos semanas después del término de su visita, aquellos seleccionados para recibir la beca deben escribir un reporte de una página detallando su trabajo realizado en Vanderbilt. Este reporte se mandará al Departamento de Educación Pública como parte de nuestro reporte de manejo de fondos.

TERMINOS:

  • Fondos de NRC son distribuidos como reembolsos. Estos fondos deben ser usados para transporte y/o hospedaje únicamente.
  • Fondos de NRC no pueden ser utilizados en alimentos.
  • Todo aquel que esté interesado, incluidos los investigadores Internacionales, son responsables por su propia cobertura de seguro médico.
  • La residencia debe de ser de un mínimo de 4 días hábiles.

“Voices for the Environment” Exhibit Is Going Digital

Banner for “Voices for the Environment” exhibit outside The Bancroft Library

In the fall of 2023, the Oral History Center (OHC) produced its first multimedia exhibition in the Bancroft Library Gallery named Voices for the Environment: A Century of Bay Area Activism. While the exhibit will remain on display in The Bancroft Gallery throughout the Fall 2024 semester, we’re now working to make much of the exhibit accessible online!

Voices for the Environment, which was curated by Todd Holmes, Roger Eardley-Pryor, and Paul Burnett of the OHC, traces the evolution of environmentalism in the San Francisco Bay Area across the twentieth century. In three sections, it highlights how Bay Area activists have long been on the front lines of environmental change: from efforts to preserve natural spaces in the wake of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire; to the midcentury fight for state regulations to protect the San Francisco Bay shoreline; to more recent demands for environmental justice to address the disproportionate burden of pollution that inflicts communities of color around the Bay. 

This exhibit was the first major effort in The Bancroft Library Gallery to showcase oral history alongside the library’s traditional archival collections. It did so through Audio Spotlight technology, which are specially honed speakers that allow visitors to listen to never-before-heard oral history recordings with Bay Area environmentalists.  Those oral history recordings played in the gallery as part of three edited videos that paired the recordings with historic photographs and rare film footage. Additionally, the exhibit featured a three-episode podcast, which visitors could access by scanning a QR code in the gallery with their smartphones. Those podcast episodes, which were produced in partnership with Sasha Khokha of KQED Public Radio and The California Report Magazine,  offered visitors a deeper dive into the oral histories highlighted in each of the exhibit’s three main sections.

Visitors experiencing the “Voices for the Environment” exhibit in The Bancroft Library Gallery
Visitors experience the “Voices for the Environment” exhibit in The Bancroft Library Gallery

In the effort to give the exhibit a life beyond its December 2024 closing date, the curators are working this fall to transform Voices for the Environment from a physical to digital exhibit. Some of the contents are already available online. The three podcast episodes can be accessed through Soundcloud, and the three exhibit videos are now available through YouTube. Additionally, by using a 3D omnidirectional camera, the curators aim to bring the full exhibit—and all its material contents, like posters, postcards, and documents—to the digital world, and thus to classrooms throughout California. 

Voices for the Environment was curated with the classroom in mind. Curators Todd Holmes and Roger Eardley-Pryor created an educational workbook as an educational resource for the exhibit. The workbook, which was designed for students of all ages, aimed to foster further engagement with the various themes and primary sources on display in the exhibit. We now hope that a digital Voices for the Environment exhibit can bring that same experience to classrooms for years to come, offering another teaching resource in California’s K-12 environmental curriculum. Stay tuned!

In the meantime, feel free to check out the exhibit’s podcast and videos below:

 

Voices for the Environment Podcast

Voices for the Environment Exhibit Videos

Episode 1: A Preservationist Spirit

Episode 2: Tides of Conservation 

Episode 3: Environmental Justice for All

_________

ABOUT THE ORAL HISTORY CENTER

The Oral History Center of The Bancroft Library preserves voices of people from all walks of life, with varying political perspectives, national origins, and ethnic backgrounds. We are committed to open access and our oral histories and interpretive materials are available online at no cost to scholars and the public. You can find our oral histories from the search feature on our home page. Search by name, keyword, and several other criteria. Sign up for our monthly newsletter  featuring think pieces, new releases, podcasts, Q&As, and everything oral history. Access the most recent articles from our home page or go straight to our blog home.

Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to the Oral History Center if you’d like to see more work like this conducted and made freely available online. While we receive modest institutional support, we are a predominantly self-funded research unit of The Bancroft Library. We must raise the funds to cover the cost of all the work we do, including each oral history. You can give online, or contact us at ohc@berkeley.edu for more information about our funding needs for present and future projects.


Berkeley SLATE-d for Back to School: Student Community in the Sixties

By Natalie Naylor

Image of the author, a young woman wearing a blue shirt and black sweater, standing in front of a window.

Natalie Naylor is a fourth-year undergraduate studying English and Creative Writing. She’s lived in the on-campus dorms, specifically Unit 2, and two Berkeley Student Cooperative properties during her time at UC Berkeley.

Well, it was magnificent! First of all, it was beautiful. I mean, Berkeley in the sixties was just a great place to be. It was very exciting; there were all kinds of new ideas. I loved my classes; I quickly made very good friends.

– Julianne Morris, SLATE Project 

Berkeley in the 1960s is a time our campus and its surrounding community look back on with pride. During these years, UC Berkeley students, faculty, and community members participated in civil rights protests, antiwar activism, and, of course, the Free Speech Movement; these efforts are no doubt some of the most significant moments in Berkeley’s history. From the Mario Savio Free Speech Movement Café to the Martin Luther King Jr. Building and Free Speech Monument in Upper Sproul Plaza, the built environment referencing social activism in the sixties incorporates physical tributes to this time throughout UC Berkeley’s contemporary campus.

Sixty years later, as the Fall 2024 semester begins, it’s easy to feel as though that time in our history is completely removed from the present. However, students in the 1960s were concerned with issues familiar to UC Berkeley’s current student body: housing, humanitarianism, belonging, freedom of speech, and community building. This includes many of the members involved in the campus political group SLATE in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The Oral History Center’s SLATE Oral History Project documents the experiences and budding political consciousnesses of some of the students involved in on-campus activism at UC Berkeley sixty years ago.  

A young woman stands on top of a police car in the middle of Sproul Plaza. She is surrounded by a large crowd.
Jackie Goldberg on top of a police car in front of Sproul Hall, 1964. Courtesy of the Bancroft Library’s Michael Rossman Free Speech Movement Photographs, circa 1964.

SLATE was a political party on UC Berkeley’s campus from 1958 to 1966 and, therefore, predated the Free Speech Movement. Its main goal: to present candidates for the Associated Students of the University of California (ASUC) office who supported racial equality and free speech on campus.

Jackie Goldberg, an undergraduate social science major in the mid-sixties, was one of the most well-known student activists involved in SLATE at UC Berkeley. She initially joined SLATE because of her passion for civil rights, as well as the strong community and support from other student activists on campus at the time. Her oral history is a part of the Oral History Center’s Free Speech Movement Oral History Project but chronicles the work she did with SLATE in detail. 

When she arrived on campus, Goldberg underwent a year of dorm living—still a staple of the UC Berkeley freshman experience. After that first year in the dorms, she encountered a lack of housing on and around campus, which is a lasting issue at Cal. To secure housing for her second year, she participated in the sorority rush process and became a member of Delta Phi Epsilon. Goldberg claims that due to her Jewish background, most other houses declined to offer her membership. Experiencing this prejudice firsthand likely later influenced her activism in fighting discrimination in Greek life. In her oral history, she describes her housing journey as such:

I had applied to the co-op. I had applied to the dorms, and I didn’t get any of them. I was on the wait list for both. So my game plan was I would go in for a semester, try to grow up so I could get an apartment, find someone to get an apartment with…but it turned out that I was in this free-wheeling place, with a lot of nice people, some of whom are still my friends…and it was so easy. I didn’t have to cook, I didn’t have to clean, I didn’t have to shop, and it was cheap because I was doing the house bills.

Despite originally joining the sorority for housing reasons, Goldberg grew an affinity for the culture of her house and its lifestyle. In her oral history, she recalls: “I stayed all three years. I had no desire to leave.” 

Goldberg thrived in community with other members of Delta Phi Epsilon and SLATE during her time at UC Berkeley. Her activist work and living situation occasionally overlapped, like while advocating for the racial integration of sororities at Cal. At the time, Greek life had a vast political presence on campus; Goldberg both embraced and challenged this precedent to incite political change at UC Berkeley. She succeeded in encouraging other sororities to desegregate, despite the decision sometimes diverging from their national organizations and sister-chapters.

Julianne Morris, another member of SLATE, had a less positive experience in an all-women’s housing arrangement around the University of California, Berkeley’s campus. While studying at UCLA, Morris founded the organization PLATFORM, inspired by conversations she’d had with members of SLATE. After craving more involvement in student politics, she transferred to UC Berkeley in the early 1960s and selected housing based on connections she’d previously made through SLATE. Morris recalls:

My first semester I was in a co-op, Stebbins Hall, and so I met a lot of women friends there. And of course, you know, it was very different then. There was a curfew, where you had to be in—and God forbid that there were any men there at night.

Even in the sixties, the University maintained in loco parentis authority over its female students from which it exempted male students. These unequal restrictions were especially apparent when it came to women’s housing accommodations. Because of this, although she found community both in SLATE and at Stebbins, Morris eventually sought more autonomy by moving to her own apartment after one semester in the co-op system. She explains: 

Oh, I liked the idea of being freer. And you know, I hated having to come in at a certain time and no men in the house and the whole way things were at that time. And so I was very happy not to be in a dorm or a co-op anymore and be on my own

Despite graduating sixty years ago, many of the buildings around UC Berkeley’s campus are part of a continuous built environment that would be physically recognizable to Morris and her peers. 

In 2024, there are still two Berkeley co-ops designated for female-identifying students only, but no all-male-identifying cooperatives remain. One historically men-only house was Barrington Hall, which closed in 1989.

A black-and-white aerial view of the northeast side of UC Berkeley's campus and the surrounding area.
An aerial view of the northeast corner of the University of California, Berkeley, 1994. Pictured: e.g. Foothill dining hall and dormitories, Cloyne Court, Kingman Hall, Hearst Avenue, Hearst Mining Circle and Building. Courtesy of the Bancroft Library’s Aerial Photographs Collection.

David Armor, a founding member of SLATE, lived in Barrington Hall while attending UC Berkeley, and participating in student government and campus activism. In 1959, he became the first and only member of SLATE to be elected as ASUC President. Armor describes his experience living at the student cooperative Barrington Hall during his freshman year as such: 

Again, as a very poor student, I chose the cheapest housing, which was…a cooperative, Barrington Hall, terrible building, really not in good shape…there was a two-person bedroom, two two-person bedrooms, and then a one-person bedroom, so five people sharing a bathroom. And co-op means that you did the work…You work. You did the food, the serving, the cleaning, and everything, that’s how you paid, why the fees were so low. So you basically worked to provide all the services.

However, after a semester, Armor also decided to transition to an apartment. While making this change, he and his roommates integrated some of the cooperative practices they adopted from Barrington into their new living dynamic. Armor reports this influence as having a positive impact on his development as a young adult: 

So we got an apartment in the second semester of my freshman year, and five roommates, and we divided up the chores, cooking and whatever, and that was a great experience, because we [were] becoming independent, and living on our own. 

Armor’s desire for strong community and cooperation mirrors the effective practices of SLATE’s grassroots political advocacy approach. Housing was one of the main issues of SLATE’s political platform, and the group supported the Berkeley Fair Housing Ordinance in 1959. SLATE also opposed the University’s compulsory ROTC program for male freshmen and sophomores. Members defined SLATE by its beliefs in student organizations, advocacy, and the right for personal academic freedom on UC Berkeley’s campus and its surrounding areas. Communal living, even on an apartment scale, is still a method of community building for students at UC Berkeley. In addition, cooperative living situations are often regarded as financially accessible for a wide range of students looking for housing in Berkeley. Armor and other SLATE participants likely resonated with communal styles of living because of their political and personal beliefs, as well as their material needs.

A group of college-aged people stand in a line holding signs. The photo is black-and-white.
Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and SLATE protest outside a White Citizens’ Council Meeting, October 28, 1964. Courtesy of the Bancroft Library’s Call Bulletin Collection.

Over the past sixty years, both Barrington Hall and the UC Berkeley chapter of the Delta Phi Epsilon sorority have closed; the physical structures where they were once housed are the largest reminders and evidence of their impact on campus. Stebbins Hall, Morris’s first housing experience at Cal, is still operational as a student cooperative, and has been co-ed since 1971. In short, the built environment since the time of the Free Speech Movement on Berkeley’s campus has both endured and been changed in ways that would feel substantial to former students and members of SLATE.

The activists highlighted here craved more autonomy and less censorship in both their campus and housing climates. They were able to socially campaign for their beliefs as a result of cross-community building practices. Goldberg, Morris, and Armor all lived in houses with a built-in social element; this was likely a great opportunity for idea-sharing and recruitment for SLATE’s cause, as well as a way to foster meaningful connections with their housemates. Their interviews reveal the importance and impact of these connections, as well as the places in which they were formed. What these narrators recall best from their time at UC Berkeley—outside of their work with SLATE—is not classes or grades, but instead the places they lived and the communities of people they built in those places. Indeed, Goldberg, Morris, and Armor’s individual memories of student-led activism and the communities that emerged from, and around, that work have remained strong sixty years on. 

About the Oral History Center

The Oral History Center of The Bancroft Library preserves voices of people from all walks of life, with varying political perspectives, national origins, and ethnic backgrounds. We are committed to open access and our oral histories and interpretive materials are available online at no cost to scholars and the public. You can find our oral histories from the search feature on our home page. Search by name, keyword, and several other criteria. Sign up for our monthly newsletter featuring think pieces, new releases, podcasts, Q&As, and everything oral history. Access the most recent articles from our home page or go straight to our blog home.


Armenian Studies: Jennifer Manoukian’s Lecture: Forbidden Attraction: Ottoman Armenians and the Turkish Language in the Age of Nationalism

Jennifer Manoukian, UC President’s Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of History (Center for Armenian Studies), University of California, Irvine, will visit the Berkeley campus in September.

Jennifer ManoukianUniversity of California, Irvine, History, Post-Doc
Jennifer Manoukian
University of California, Irvine, History, Post-Doc

On Wednesday, September 11th, Manoukian will give her talk at the Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures

5:00 pm – 6:30 pm
Lecture and Discussion (254 Social Sciences Building
)

Forbidden Attraction: Ottoman Armenians and the Turkish Language in the Age of Nationalism 

“This presentation excavates the varied attitudes toward Turkish among Ottoman Armenians in the nineteenth century. It seeks to correct a fundamental misunderstanding about the relationship between Ottoman Armenians and the Turkish language, to reframe Ottoman Armenians as agents in their use of Turkish, and to expose Turkish as something far more than a “language of the oppressor” for many Armenians in the Ottoman Empire. The presentation begins by offering an overview of Ottoman Armenian Turcophonia. It examines three language attitudes that led bilingual Ottoman Armenian men in Istanbul to choose Turkish over Armenian in specific social contexts (source: https://events.berkeley.edu/melc/event/262339-forbidden-attraction-ottoman-armenians-and-the)

The event has been sponsored by the Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures, UC Berkeley, and the University of California President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program.


Hispanic Heritage Month 2024

2024 Hispanic Heritage Month

Beginning September 15th, Hispanic Heritage Month kicks off, a time to honor and celebrate the remarkable contributions and achievements of the Hispanic community. Explore a selection of inspiring recommendations by Hispanic authors below, and discover additional titles in the UC Berkeley Library’s Overdrive collection.


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Discover What’s New: Caribbean and Latin American Studies Library Fall Semester News

Fall 2024
Dear Faculty, Students and Visiting Scholars
I hope you have had a fruitful summer. I wanted to send you some updates about the Caribbean and Latin American Studies collection development and my activities for the past few months as your department’s liaison librarian.

I’m excited to share some recent library acquisitions that will enhance your research and teaching resources at UC Berkeley. Here are the highlights of our new collections. Besides electronic resources, I purchase print materials for current teaching and research. This year, I launched a permanent approval plan for contemporary Mexican books. I will continue to offer by appointment student research consultations regularly throughout this semester. Please have your students reach out to me through my email: Lpendse at Berkeley.edu

 Digital Archives and Journals

Cine Cubano: Latin America’s Oldest Film Magazine
This invaluable resource offers over 200 issues spanning six decades of Cuban revolutionary and Latin American cinema. It provides unparalleled access to film theory, filmmaking approaches, and reviews from 1960 to 2019.

This picture shows the title page and cover of Cine Cubano Journal for 1960-1962
Cine Cubano, 1960-1962
Cuban Pre-Revolutionary Cinema
This collection documents the development of Cuban cinema from the Silent Era to 1959, including the complete run of Cinema magazine from 1935 to 1965
Feminism in Cuba: Nineteenth through Twentieth Century Archival Documents
Feminism in Cuba: Nineteenth through Twentieth Century Archival Documents

Feminism in Cuba, 1898-1958
Compiled from Cuban sources, this collection illuminates Cuban feminism, women in politics, and literature by Cuban women from independence to the end of the Batista regime.

Prensa Libre Digital ArchiveAccess the digital archive of Prensa Libre, a leading Guatemalan newspaper published in Guatemala City since 1951.

Prensa Libre Digital ArchiveAccess the digital archive of Prensa Libre, a leading Guatemalan newspaper published in Guatemala City since 1951.
Prensa Libre Digital Archive
Access the digital archive of Prensa Libre, a leading Guatemalan newspaper published in Guatemala City since 1951.

E-book Collections
Iberoamericana Vervuert Frontlists (2022-2024)
We’ve acquired the latest front lists from the Iberoamericana Vervuert publishing house through DeGruyter, covering publications from 2022 to 2024.

These books are available here.
Iberoamericana Vervuert Ebooks on DeGruyter
Iberoamericana Vervuert Ebooks on DeGruyter

This collection offers Spanish and Catalan e-books published in Latin America and Spain.

Archival Material

I collaborated with the Bancroft Library’s curator for Latin Americana to purchase the archive of Lucas de Careaga, a military officer and merchant. This collection provides  insights into trade in Mexico, including:

{1709-1724} [México] Captain Lucas de Careaga y Sanz de Urrutia. He was a native of Bilbao and arrived in Mexico in the late 17th century. He was a knight of the military order of Santiago from 1707 and held the title of Marquess of Santa Fe.  Among the positions he held in New Spain, it is known that he served as a captain in the Royal  Armies. In 1701, he was the General Syndic of the Province of Santo Evangelio and Consul of the Casa de Contratación de Indias. He passed away on August 28, 1729, in the then-town of  San Ángel, near Mexico City.
– Dealings with Veracruz merchants
– A 1714 inventory of Hacienda de Tetitlán, detailing:
– Estate houses and furnishings
– Chapel adornments
– Sugar cane mill (Ingenio)
– Carpentry tools
– Animal pens
– Cattle branding irons
– Agricultural tools
– Inventory of slaves with names[5]These new resources significantly expand our holdings in Latin American studies, film, literature, and history. I encourage you to explore these materials for your research and teaching needs.If you have any questions or need assistance accessing these resources, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Rare Periodicals for Berkeley

 
I also purchased the following rare periodicals for Berkeley.
 
Alfonsina Revista Mensual
Zulma Nuñez (Dir)
Published in Buenos Aires by Impresiones El Sol, 1953
In-8. #1 Oct 1953 – #3 Dic 1953 (Complete set). Wrappers in slipcase.
Collaborators: Fanny Navarro, Iris Marga, Duilio Marcio, Maciel Barbosa, Evelina Benasso, Gomez Cou, and others. Apart from literary and artistic criticism, this magazine dedicates many chapters to the life and work of Alfonsina Storni, with many illustrations of his house in Lugano, Switzerland, and stages of his life. Missing to all bibliographies
Alfonsina Revista MensualZulma Nuñez (Dir) Published in Buenos Aires by Impresiones El Sol, 1953
Alfonsina Revista Mensual
Zulma Nuñez (Dir)
Published in Buenos Aires by Impresiones El Sol, 1953
 Revista Artes Graficas Organo Oficial
Publisher: Buenos Aires Graficos Platt
Publication Date: 1941
Edition: 1st Ed
In-8. #1 Sep 1941. #2 Oct 1941, #4 May 1942, #5 Jan Mar 1943. Collaborators: Pablo Paoppi, Jose Carbonell, Felix de Ugarteche, Among others. Rare graphic magazine that only cites incompletely Washington Pereyra, it came out with an irregular frequency for three years, from September 1941 until September 1943, probably 7 or 8 issues max. In all its issues, this magazine brings some extraordinary studies on the first printing presses of Argentina and Paraguay Jesuit missions. Washington Pereyra T4,p204.
Title: SOLCALMO. Revista de Dinamizacion Mental: …
Publisher: Buenos Aires S.A.G.A.
Publication Date: 1967
Binding: Sin Encuadernar
Edition: 1ª Edición.
In-8º. #1 Verano de 1967-1968 (Complete set). Collaborators : Miguel Grinberg, Manuel Ruano, Eduardo Barquin, Victor Garcia Robles, Oscar Barney Finn, Jorge Lavelli, Horacio Vaggione. This initial number of Solcalmo, publication of the orbit of Miguel Grinberg, also included the original prologue of Gombrowicz`s book Ferdydurke—Provenzano page 306.
A photo of SOLCALMO. Revista de Dinamizacion Mental: Poesia, Arte, Musica, Testimonios.
SOLCALMO. Revista de Dinamizacion Mental: Poesia, Arte, Musica, Testimonios.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Acquisitions
This year, I also focused on purchasing several titles related to Afro-Colombian Studies, Afro-Mexican StudiesAfro-Argentine Studies (see attached spreadsheet), and Afro-Mexican Studies.
For example:
 Ramírez, María Teresa. Suenan tambores : antología poética afrocolombiana  / María Teresa Ramírez. Cali, Colombia: Programa Editorial Universidad del Valle, 2022. Print.
Suenan tambores. Antología poética afrocolombiana.
Suenan tambores. Antología poética afrocolombiana.
Prada Fortul, Antonio. Benkos… Las Alas de un Cimarrón : Volumen 1. 1st ed. Bogotá: Programa Editorial Universidad Del Valle, 2024. Print.
Carabalí Díaz, Liliana. Memorias de un Orgullo de Ebano : Graciela Diaz, el trasegar de una mujer afrocolombiana  / Liliana Carabali Diaz. Bogota, Colombia: Programa Editorial Universidad del Valle, 2022. Print.
Sts´ubil K´ak´aletik Escombros del tiempo
Sts´ubil K´ak´aletik Escombros del tiempo
These new resources significantly expand our holdings in Latin American studies, film, literature, and history. I encourage you to explore these materials for your research and teaching needs.
If you have any questions or need assistance accessing these resources, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Happy researching!
Liladhar
Library Liaison for the Caribbean and Latin American Studies

UC Berkeley is now an OSF Member

The Open Science Framework (OSF) supports and enables reproducible open science, allowing researchers to manage the full lifecycle of their research projects in one place. OSF provides a platform for open research outputs including preprints through MetaArXiv, registrations and preregistrations; and project sites to host plans, results and related files. 

With UC Berkeley’s new OSF membership, you can now log in to OSF with your UC Berkeley CalNet login and password.

Connect your research

To affiliate your research, first visit osf.io and choose “sign in with my institution.”

Image of OSF Institutions login screen with "Sign in via Institution" button circled in pink

Then select University of California, Berkeley from the drop-down on the next screen. You will be directed to login with your UC Berkeley CalNet login and password. Once you connect the first time, you can either login with your existing OSF username and password or with your CalNet.

Open your research

Conducting your research through the UC Berkeley OSFI platform is a strategic way to enhance transparency, foster collaboration, and increase the visibility of your research. It allows you to affiliate your public research with UC Berkeley on OSF and discover other affiliated research. If your research is not yet public, now might be a good time to consider sharing your existing or future work!

For more information, you can view help guides on signing in with your institution and affiliating your projects. You can also view the UC Berkeley affiliated research through our new landing page.

Learn more

If you’d like to learn more about OSF, join us for an upcoming event:

10/9/24 at noon
Introduction to OSF Institutions for UC Berkeley 
Registration:

Topics to be covered:

  • logging in with your CalNet ID and setting up your UC Berkeley affiliation
  • working with collaborators at Berkeley and beyond
  • public and private features and storage limits
  • preprint (MetaArXiv) and registration sites
  • integrations with other tools

If you have further questions, please contact the science libraries team at epslibs@berkeley.edu.