The Doris Z. Stone Latin American Library and Research Center

Please join us on Thursday, May 7, 10:30am–12:00 for a work-in-progress talk by Richard Greenleaf Fellow, Miruna Achim, on “Transfigurations: Merle Greene Robertson’s Paper Collection and the Making of the Mayan City of Palenque.”

Miruna Achim (PhD, Yale University) teaches at the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana-Cuajimalpa, in Mexico City. Her research centers on the material cultures of science and technology, with a focus on the history of antiquarianism and collection building in Mexico.

When: Thursday, May 7, 10:30am–12:00
Where: Doris Z. Stone Latin American Library and Research Center Seminar Room, 4th floor Howard-Tilton Memorial Library Building.

Tomorrow, the Doris Stone LAL will host Juan Sebastián Chamorro: Voices from the Past That Resonate in the Present.

The talk, given in English, centers on the Chamorro Barrios Family Papers housed at the Doris Stone Latin American Library and Research Center.
Through personal letters, newspaper editorials, prison writings, and rare archival documents, Professor Chamorro will discuss the struggles and political engagement of multiple generations of his family, whose lives became inseparable from Nicaragua’s most defining historical moments.
Among them are his grandfather Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Zelaya, founder in the 1930s of Nicaragua leading newspaper, La Prensa; his uncle, Pedro Joaquín Chamorro Cardenal, dissenting journalist and director of the La Prensa, whose assassination in 1978 became the catalyst in the overthrow of the Somoza regime; and his aunt, Violeta Barrios de Chamorro, who served as President of Nicaragua (1990–1996).
The talk invites the audience to witness how private correspondence can become public history, and how the moral choices of one generation echo in the next. By weaving together intimate testimony and national events, through successive episodes of forced exile, imprisonment, censorship, sacrifice and unwavering conviction, Chamorro explores themes of courage, democratic resilience, torture, death, hope and despair, as well as the enduring cost of dissent.
On view will be selected physical documents (letters, photographs, official documents and much more) from the Chamorro Barrios Family Papers relating to the talk which will also touch on the role of institutions like Tulane in preserving Latin America’s documentary heritage.

Join us for a reflection on memory, legacy, democratic resilience, and the enduring struggle for freedom.


Juan Sebastián Chamorro is a Nicaraguan economist, presidential candidate (2021) and political prisoner (2021–2023) who is a Greenleaf Distinguished Scholar at the Stone Center for Latin American Studies (2025–2026). He currently teaches a course at Tulane on democratic erosion in Latin America.

Exciting things are afoot at the Doris Stone LAL. Stay tuned for our next exhibition (2026-2027).

Share your guesses about its theme in the comments!

¡Se vienen cosas emocionantes en la Biblioteca Latinoamericana Doris Stone! Mantente al tanto de nuestra próxima exposición (2026-2027) y cuéntanos en los comentarios de qué crees que tratará.

Please join us on Monday, March 30, 2-3:30 PM for a work-in progress talk by archaeologist Anthony Villar Quintana, our first Richard Greenleaf Fellow of the academic year.

Anthony will speak on his current work titled The Spirit of the Bear: Narratives of Resistance and Transformation in the Utcubamba River Basin (Amazon-Peru).
The project examines the impact of Spanish domination on the worldview of the Utcubamba River basin (Amazonas, Peru) through the figure of the bear as a cosmological symbol and marker of social identity. Using an interdisciplinary approach drawing on archaeological, historical, linguistic, and ethnographic sources, it investigates the bear’s transformations and syncretic re-signification from the Late Pre-Columbian period to the colonial context, as well as its subsequent repercussions.

Anthony Villar is an archaeologist affiliated with the National University of San Marcos (Peru). A member of the Grupo de Investigación Yungas (UNMSM) and the Grupo de Investigación Científico Social del Nororiente Andino Amazónico (UNTRM), he specializes in Amazonian and Andean archaeology, with an emphasis on social dynamics through worldview and cultural interaction. He has worked with communities in the Andes and the Amazon and has led archaeological projects at multiple sites across these regions. He has numerous publications on iconography, rock art, and pre-Columbian and colonial architecture.

When: Monday March 30, 2-3:30PM
Where: Doris Z. Stone Latin American Library and Research Center Seminar Room, 4th floor Howard-Tilton Memorial Library Building.

Come join us!

Tulane has a new job site! The link for our open position has changed: https://tulane-ibqejb.fa.ocs.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/CandidateExperience/en/sites/CX_1/jobs/preview/228/?mode=location

We are hiring!

The Doris Z. Stone Latin American Library and Research Center is seeking a highly motivated, bilingual (English/Spanish) Senior Program Coordinator to support research services, engagement with the public, access to collections, publicity, communications, and outreach services.

For more information and to apply, visit https://tulane-ibqejb.fa.ocs.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/CandidateExperience/en/sites/CX_1/jobs/preview/228/?mode=location

Last week, Hortensia Calvo and Teresa Clifton, co-curators of Transformative Lenses: Four Contemporary Brazilian Photographers, gave a behind-the-scenes tour of the exhibition to colleagues at the library.

Many thanks to the Professional Development Committee, Juan Pablo Gómez, Xiaojie Duan, Yue Ming, and Carrie Smith, for organizing the tour and to all who attended.

For more on the exhibition, join us at 2:30pm on March 6 and March 18 to hear directly from the photographers in a series of gallery talks.

Meet the photographers in two upcoming gallery talks:

Edu Simões & Rogério Assis
Friday, March 6┃2:30–3:45 pm┃Fourth Floor, Howard-Tilton Memorial Library, The Doris Z. Stone Latin American Library and Research Center

João Farkas & Ângela Ferreira (on the work of Rosa Gauditano)
Wednesday, March 18┃2:30–3:45 pm┃Fourth Floor, Howard-Tilton Memorial Library, The Doris Z. Stone Latin American Library and Research Center

Join us for a series of informal gallery talks as part of Transformative Lenses: Four Contemporary Brazilian Photographers. We will gather in the exhibition gallery for a conversational exploration of specific sections of the show.

The photographers will join virtually from Brazil, appearing live on a monitor in the gallery to discuss their respective works. Each artist will speak for approximately 35–40 minutes, and attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions.

All are welcome! Please note that an ID is required to enter the Howard-Tilton Memorial Library building. See you there!

We are hiring!

The Doris Z. Stone Latin American Library and Research Center is seeking a highly motivated, bilingual (English/Spanish) Senior Program Coordinator to support research services, engagement with the public, access to collections, publicity, communications, and outreach services.

For more information and to apply, visit https://jobs.tulane.edu/position/IRC34311.

The Doris Stone LAL is thrilled to announce the publication of two new online finding aids for unique materials and 8 new maps added to our special collections!

French Press Photograph Collection, Image Archive Collection 076

This collection consists of press photographs produced by French news agencies between 1940 and 1993, documenting political, social, and cultural events across Latin America and the Caribbean. Representing more than twenty countries, the images capture moments of political transition, public protest, international diplomacy, and everyday life as seen through a global media lens.

The finding aid provides detailed descriptions and an organized framework to support research in Latin American studies, political history, journalism, and visual culture.

Consult the finding aid via ArchivesSpace to learn more: https://archives.tulane.edu/repositories/8/resources/3686

New Maps

New maps added to the special collections touch upon several important moments in American cartographic history and are visually impactful. Topics include: early renderings of the North American continent, piracy and privateering in the Caribbean, shifting colonial control and influence in North and Central America, transportation and commercial networks between the United States, Latin America, and Europe, and early 20th century tourism.
-America Nova Tabula (1630) – currently on exhibit, 4th floor of Howard-Tilton
-To The Right Honorable John Lord Sommers…This Map of North America According to Ye Newest and Most Exact Observations… (1719) – Hermann Moll’s “codfish” map (pictured)
-ADraught of the Windward Coast of the Mosquito Shore from Point Pattuck to St. Johns and Continued on the Spanish Main, to Escuda Veragua, with the Islands, Keys, and Shoals, from the latest Authorities. (1785)
-Plano General del Ferrocarril de Santamarta. Muestra la tierra cultivada con banano y la apropiada para el mismo. (1921)
-Father Neptune presenteth ye Grace Line fleet to ye olde Spanish Main (1933)
-Plano de Caracas monumental (1936)
-The World According to Standard (N.J.) (1940)
-Americas Served by Grace Line (1948)

Nicaragua Sandinista Archive, Manuscripts Collection 155

This extensive manuscript collection documents the activities of the Nuevo Instituto de Centro América (NICA) and the Nicaragua Network, organizations that supported educational exchange, political advocacy, and solidarity efforts related to Nicaragua and Central America from the late 1970s through the early 2000s. The collection includes organizational records, correspondence, newsletters, publications, photographs, and other materials reflecting grassroots activism, international solidarity movements, and U.S.–Central American relations during the Sandinista period.

The finding aid provides detailed descriptions and an organized framework to support research in Latin American history, political movements, social justice, education, and transnational activism.

Consult the finding aid via ArchivesSpace to learn more: https://archives.tulane.edu/repositories/8/resources/3649

For more information, email us at [email protected].

From the archives to primetime!

Last year, the Doris Z. Stone Latin American Library and Research Center assisted a researcher for Finding Your Roots by uncovering newspaper resources for one of the family histories featured in this week’s season premiere.

In the episode “American Dreams,” helps Darren Criss and America Ferrera trace their family histories, stories that span Honduras, the Netherlands, the Philippines, and California, revealing journeys of courage, resilience, and reinvention.

https://www.pbs.org/video/american-dreams-ntw77v/