A Brief History of the Image Archive
The Latin American Library's Image Archive was founded in the mid-1970's through the efforts of several dedicated people. Photographer Abbye Gorin was introduced to the Latin American Library by Ruth Olivera, the library's manuscripts curator and creator of a series of photographic exhibits in the library. Soon after, Dr. Donald Robertson (1919-1984), professor of Latin American art history, asked Gorin to donate her exhibit photographs. Gorin suggested that an archive be created to preserve high-quality photographs of Latin America. With gifts from Steve and Abbye Gorin, the archive was established on December 21, 1976.
Two others played a prominent role in the early development of the archive: Thomas Niehaus, Director of the Latin American Library, 1977-1990, and Humberto Rodríguez-Camilloni, professor of architectural history in the Tulane School of Architecture. In the late 1970s, Rodríguez opened doors in his native Peru, arranging for the purchase of photographs and drawings by the noted architect-engineer Emilio Harth-Terré (1899-1983) and a collection of photographs by Abraham Guillén Melgar (1901-1985), a documentarian of Andean cultural heritage for fifty years.
Niehaus included the purchase of photographs as an item in the library budget, and purchased important collections such as the photographs of Martín Chambi (1891-1973), noted Cuzco photographer, and the Nicaraguan images of Judith Hancock de Sandoval. Niehaus also acquired albums of historic photographs of Guatemala, Panama, Cuba, and Brazil. As the archive became known in academic circles, collections began to come into the library, such as the Sidney D. Markman archive of images of architecture in Mexico, Central America, and Spain.
In order to preserve the identity of individual collections it was decided to organize the collections by photographer and/or collector, rather than to rearrange them along geographical lines. By 1981 Gorin completed the preliminary organization and inventory of the holdings, which then numbered approximately 10,000 images. Also in that year, Ruth Olivera was appointed the first curator of the photographic archive. Mrs. Olivera has made major contributions in improving the accessibility of the archive with the development of a numerical collection file and dictionary card catalog. Collection numbers and names and a short description of the contents make up the collection file.
Guillermo Náñez Falcón directed the Latin American Library from 1990-2002. As an historian and author, Dr. Náñez added another layer of scholarly understanding and appreciation to the development of the Image Archive. Although the market for photographs climbed to an all-time high, Dr. Náñez made special purchases through funding provided by the Roger Thayer Stone Center for Latin American Studies and other sources. The Fernando La Rosa A. Collection of Peruvian and Bolivian images was one of the collections acquired in this manner.
