By: Angélica Hernández – Digitizing the Barrio Archivist
Feb 2025
As we enter our third year, we are happy to say that Digitizing the Barrio (DTB) has come a long way from the attics and basements that once stored important pieces of Humboldt Park’s revolutionary history.
Today grey archival boxes line chrome shelves, each filled with the voices of a radical community. For example, DTB houses publications of organizations such as the Movimiento de Liberación Nacional (MLN), the National Boricua Human Rights Network (NBHRN), and Freedom Now! We also have materials on the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party and the Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional (FALN), as well as Vida/ Sida.
But as with most archives, what survives often fails to tell the whole story. As we processed thousands of archival documents, we discovered significant silences and omissions in the records, particularly concerning women.
In an effort to rectify this problem—one long raised by critical archivists—Digitizing the Barrio will launch an oral history project in late March. We will organize and train a cohort of interviewers to conduct oral histories to preserve community history and memory.
Not only do we want to address these gaps in the archival collection, we want to capture local community history with the community, not just for the community.
These conversations also sparked our desire to engage with the community more broadly. On March 20th, Digitizing the Barrio will host a Women’s History Month event (see below for more) featuring local Puerto Rican scholars, Dr. Lilia Fernández, Professor of History, University of Illinois at Chicago; Dr. Maura Toro-Morn, Professor of Sociology at Illinois State University; and Dr. Mérida M. Rúa, Professor of Latina/Latino Studies at Northwestern University.
While this event is a celebration of their work, we hope that the community will also share their own lived experiences, memories, and family stories. Working closely with community members, these two initiatives will place women at the center of community collective memory and expand Digitizing the Barrio’s capacity to generate compelling and informative historical narratives for multiple audiences.
Please join us on March 20th at ¡WEPA! Mercado del Pueblo at 2559 W Division St, Chicago, IL 60622 from 5:30-7:30 PM for Showcasing Chicago’s Puerto Rican Women’s History: A Panel and Discussion.
If you are interested in joining the cohort or have any questions, please contact Angélica Hernández at [email protected].
