By: Zion Anthony Trinidad
On June 23rd, The PRCC’s archival project “Digitizing the Barrio” co-hosted a small off-site preservation event with the American Library Association inside of the Paseo Boricua Arts Building located at 2709-15 W. Division St. This event was organized and hosted by Digitizing the Barrio Archivist, Angélica Hernández, Archive directors Dr. Michael Rodríguez-Muñiz and Dr. Margaret Power, Northwestern University preservationist Katie Risseeuw, and The Ohio State University preservationist Miriam Centeno. This event drew a crowd of 25 library science
experts and enthusiasts; the majority of whom were librarians from all around the United States.
During this event the participants were given an in-depth look on various preservation issues such as mold, water, and light damage as well as the best ways to prevent or amend these common problems. What followed was a tour of Paseo Boricua, led by José E. López, in which the participants were given a sense of the history and culture of Paseo Boricua which helped ground them in what came next. After the tour, participants were able to use their newly gained knowledge on preservation and local history to help preserve the collection of more than 150 oversized political posters and artworks that are in possession of the Digitizing the Barrio Archive.
The event was a huge success, with nearly all of the posters being properly preserved and stored in archival-grade folders and custom-made boxes. None of this would have been possible without the work of the amazing organizers and the incredibly engaged and caring participants. If you are interested in also volunteering at the archives, please reach out to prccarchive@prcc-chgo.org.
