Columbia University Archives: Latine Experience

Latine Experience

How to find information about Latine students, faculty and staff

Students & Alumni

Columbia student records such as matriculation ledgers and grade books used to routinely record a student’s name, hometown and state. Some may include the student’s secondary school or a parent’s (mostly father’s) name. But early Columbia student records do not record race or ethnicity.  

In the case of Latine students, there are a number of terms that have been used over the years to refer to this population. Columbia used to adhere to the then-common practice of relying on “Spanish surnames.” In fact, in 1969, the University was asked to submit racial and ethnic data to the federal government. The available categories were: Black, Oriental, American Indian, Spanish Surnamed American and Other. This same group is also often referred to as Puerto Ricans. While there is eventually some acknowledgement that not all Latine students were of Puerto Rican descent, the term was for a long time used generically to apply to all Latines. You will also find: Spanish-American, Latins, Latin American, minority, Latino/a/x and the like.

  • Yearbooks, Facebooks and Class Books
    Yearbooks are a good source of information about former students, student activities, and the composition of the student body over the years. The University Archives collections include an extensive run of yearbooks from Columbia College from 1869 to the present, as well as a representation of yearbooks from other schools of the University such as the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, the Graduate School of Journalism, and the Graduate School of Business. You can use the Yearbook, Facebooks and Class Books finding aid to see the University Archives holdings and to request volumes for use in the reading room. The finding aid includes links to those volumes available online.
     
  • Latino alumni directory of Columbia College, 1993
    The Latino alumni directory came together after two years of research. The Directory was meant to "provide a framework for encouraging alumni activity and participation in the College's ongoing educational experience." It came about at the same time as the extended Core

    Curriculum which had finally included "studies in Latin American culture, Latinos in America and throughout the world." 

  • Historical Subject Files feature materials collected by Columbiana and University Archives staff members, including the following relevant folders related to Latine activities and groups:

    • East Coast Chicano Student Forum (ECCSF), 1990s (box 223)
    • Encuentros, 1980s (box 200)
    • Student handouts - Racism and Race Relations, 1970s-1980s, (box 223)
    • Latin-American Students, 1940s-2000s (box 227)
       

Student organization records

  • Central Files, or the Office of the President records, is a great source to investigate the changing nature of student activities and student relations with the administration, and how student organizations reflect upon the University. Between 1900 and the 1940s in particular, Columbia sought ways to centralize the administration of nonacademic services. Look for Frederick Goetz (who served as comptroller to student organizations); King’s Crown (the alumni body which oversaw the budgets of certain student organizations); the Committee on Student Organizations (which wrote regulations governing the selection of speakers by student organization); and the Registrar (all student organizations needed to complete a form with the purpose and membership of the organization, forms from 1940-1962 are found in boxes 568-570 of this collection). 
     

  • Columbia University Committee on Student Organizations records, 1905-1919
    This small collection captures information about the clubs on campus during the early 20th century. The collection includes information about this student governing body but also about the individual clubs and sports, including the Latin American Club, the International Club, etc. 

  • Yearbooks
    Yearbooks are also a great source to learn about student activities since they offer a yearly snapshot of the student life, with Columbia College and the School of Engineering best represented. You can find Latine student groups from the 1900s in a listing of the members of the Círculo Latino Americano of Columbia University (1910) and learn about their performance of the comedy "No Más Mostrador" by M.J. De Larra (1911).

  • Chicanx Caucus records, 2001-2016
    Chicanx Caucus of Columbia University was founded in 1977 and in more than 40 years of existence is one of the most active organizations and one of the oldest Latino organizations on campus. The collection consists of scrapbooks, posters, digital photographs, and meeting minutes documenting the activities of the Chicanx Caucus between 2001-2016.

  • Web Archives
    The University Archives aims to preserve Columbia domain websites (columbia.edu) in web archive collection via the Archive-It service. In addition, select sites without a columbia.edu address, for example those for publications and student groups, have been identified and are also captured in the web crawls. You can travel back in time using this service to discover the web presence of both active and inactive student groups, such as Acción Boricua (here captured in 2005) and the Chicanx Caucus (here captured in 2025).

Archival collections are non-circulating and can only be viewed in the Rare Book & Manuscript Library's reading room (RBML). In order to use the collections at the RBML, you will be required to register your own Special Collections Research Account before your visit and to validate the account in person with government-issued photo identification or Columbia ID card. Once you have created your Special Collections Research Account, you will be able to schedule an appointment and request the boxes directly from the finding aid or from the CLIO online library catalog record. 

For additional resources or other topics you would like to be addressed here, please contact uarchives@columbia.edu.

Academics & Administration

  • Central Files
    Records of the central administration, which includes the Office of the President and others, is the main collection of administrative archival records. The early correspondence is organized by the last names of individuals (see De Bary and Williams below).
    • De Bary, William Theodore, files, 1958-1971, which includes the press release that quotes a letter from president William J. McGill regarding the disruption of a Puerto Rican history class by a demonstration (box 497).
    • Williams, Franklin H. was the director of the Center on Urban Community Affairs at Columbia University. His correspondence addresses the lack of Black and Puerto Rican students at Columbia, the need for courses with relevance for Black students, the University's lack of contributions to local businesses and banks, proposals to recruit employees from Harlem and to increase the use of businesses and services from the Harlem area, and scholarship programs for students. Including a letter in which Williams expresses his disappointment at Columbia's failure to recruit and encourage the education of Black, Puerto Rican, and other minority students (box 72).

After 1971, most records are organized by subject (look for Puerto Rican and Latin American for additional information) and are organized by year. For example, records related to the Latin American Student Organization (LASO) and Latin Studies can be found in the "General Alphabetical Lar-Lay, 1971-1972" (box 693). Similarly, to find information about Lounge space-Puerto Rican and Latin American students, you would need "General Alphabetical Lo-Low, 1971-1972" (box 694).

  • Office of Public Affairs records
    The Office of Public Affairs manages the University's public relations and communications. They issue press releases, contribute to and publish news stories, and also collected newspaper clippings and magazine articles on Columbia-related faculty, students and issues. In this collection, you can find a wide range of materials organized by name and by subject such as "Minority - Clippings" from 1949 to1995 (Box 31).

 

Enrollment and Retention

  • In February 1941, Columbia issued a special bulletin of information for Latin American students, published both in Spanish (Boletín de información para uso de los estudiantes hispanoamericanos) and in Portuguese (Boletim de informação para uso dos estudantes de lingua portuguesa). You can find these bulletins by requesting Columbia University Bulletins call number CIB, Series 41, volume 1.
     
  • The Students Afro-American Society (SAS) and the Latin American Students Organization published Black and Latin at Columbia, circa 1969, a high school student recruitment brochure published for the Office of Admissions. You can find this booklet by requesting Black and Latin at Columbia, call number CP12 St94.
     
  • Historical Subject Files feature materials collected by Columbiana and University Archives staff members, including the following relevant folders related to Latine enrollment numbers:
    • Enrollment--Minorities, 1940s-1990s (box 1)
    • Minority Programs, 1960s-2000s (box 42)
       
  • Urban Center records, 1967-1974
    The Urban Center at Columbia University was established in 1967 under a $10.8 million dollar grant from the Ford Foundation in support of community service programs, urban research, and educational and cultural activities. The records include annual reports, publications and the Ford Foundation grant materials. The collection also contains both the transcripts and recordings of a number of conferences and events sponsored by the Urban Center. The Urban Center was disbanded in 1973.

    • Thornell, Richard P. Toward equal opportunity in the urban setting; report of the activities of the Urban Center in support of increased minority student enrollment, 1969, call number CU55 T39.

  • Admissions, Recruitment and Affirmative Action
    To understand the enrollment retention figures, you can find information related to these subjects:

  • Since 1994, the Office of Planning and Institutional Research (OPIR) compiles Columbia University's Statistical Abstract. This publication presents timely and accurate data pertaining to admissions, enrollment, degrees and certificates, tuition, financial aid, faculty, staff, and other institutional areas of interest, including demographics and race/ethnicity numbers. You can find more information about the Statistical Abstract and other such data sources in the Statistics research guide.

 

Puerto Rican Project / Latin American Studies, 1970s

Starting in 1971, you may find this term for a number of proposals for a “Latin studies program,” in particular “on the Puerto Rican and Latin experience in the US urban setting” as well as additional student services (counseling office, career-guidance, tutors, etc.). These proposals were put together by the Community Board for Puerto Rican and Latin Student Affairs, Latin-American Student Association (LASO) and Puerto Rican Student Union (PRSU). You can find records related to this initiative in the following collections.

Office of the Provost records

  • General Studies - Puerto Rican/Latin American Studies Center, 1972-1976 (box 203), Black and Puerto Rican Student, Faculty and Administrators Organization, 1973-1974 (box 239), General Studies - Puerto Rican/Latin American Studies Center, 1971-1973 (box 179).
  • Ethnic studies, 1970s (box 194); Ethnic Studies, Advisory Committee on, 1972 (box 298) and 1972-1974 (box 141); Ethnic Studies Report--Working File, 1973-1974 (box 260); and 
  • Latin Studies, 1964-1966 (box 77), Latin Studies, 1971-1972, (box 247); Latin American Studies, Institute of, 1963-1975 (box 149) and 1976-1980 (box 330), Latin American Studies, Institute of, circa 1975 (box 625), Latin American Institute, 1981-1985 (box 485).

Office of Public Affairs records

  • Puerto Rican Program, 1970-1972 (box 40)
  • Latin American Institute, 1961-1978 (box 29)
  • Urban Center, 1968-1976 (box 55)

Columbia College records

  • President's Committee--Latin Affairs, 1970-1972 (box 49)
  • Latin American Students' Organization, 1968-1971 (box 100)
  • Latin American and Iberian Studies, 1972-1979 (box 92)

Office of Public Affairs records

  • Puerto Rican project, 1970-1972 (box 40)
     

Latino studies / Ethnic studies, 1990s

In April 1996, the ethnic studies student protest led to, among other things, multiple arrests for the occupation of Low Library, a 15-day hunger strike by three students, and more than 100 protesters who then occupied Hamilton Hall for four days. The protestors managed to get the administrators to agree to continue the development of ethnic studies programs by appointing two new tenured faculty who would serve as directors of the Asian American Studies Program and Latino Studies Program. 

Historical Subject Files

  • Latino studies program, 1990s-2000s (box 39); Ethnic Studies, 1970s-2000s (box 25).

Office of the Provost records

  • Ethnic Studies Committee, 1996-2000 (box 585).

Columbia College records

  • Comparative Ethnic Studies Major, 2002 (box 112)
  • Ethnic Studies, 2007 (box 112)

Gary Y. Okihiro papers, 1939-2024

  • Okihiro was the first director of undergraduate Asian American studies and later the founding director of Columbia's Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race. 

Manning Marable papers, 1967-2012

  • Marable was the founding director of the Institute for Research in African-American Studies (IRAAS) and a member of the Presidential Ethnic Studies Advisory Committee. 

Office of Multicultural Affairs records, 1972-2017

  • This collection consists of materials from the student activities on the Columbia campus sponsored by or supported by the Office of Multicultural Affairs. The Office of Multicultural Affairs provides services to improve student retention: mentoring, counseling, courses on test-taking, expository writing, seminars, targeted recruitment. The Office also supports intercultural community programs; provides diversity education and training; and advises over 45 undergraduate cultural student organizations.

See also:

 

Community Affairs

  • Arthur Carlisle papers
    Arthur E. Carlisle served as the Vice President for Community Affairs among other titles. Known as the "troubleshooter" he represented Columbia in community outreach efforts, including working with the Morningside Area Alliance, during the 1960s and 1970s.

  • Double Discovery Center records
    Columbia College Citizenship Council submitted a grant proposal in the spring of 1965 to the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) requesting funds to establish a summer tutoring program for low-income and first-generation college-bound junior high and high school students who live in neighborhoods adjacent to Columbia University. Columbia University was originally awarded an initial grant of $157,020 from the OEO to establish Project Double Discovery. The name derived from the "double discovery" that was made by both the students and staff of the students’ academic potential.
     
  • Morningside Alliance records
    The Morningside Area Alliance is an organization working for community improvement on behalf of its member institutions in the Morningside Heights neighborhood in New York City
     
  • Marie Runyon papers
    Marie Runyon was an activist and former New York State legislator. In 1963 she began a decades-long fight against Columbia University over its real estate practices and expansion in the neighborhood. Runyon founded the Morningside Tenants Committee as well as other tenants' organizations, and she brought a number of cases to court to prevent her eviction from her apartment at 130 Morningside Drive. She also worked for many political and service organizations throughout her career.
     

Archival collections are non-circulating and can only be viewed in the Rare Book & Manuscript Library's reading room (RBML). In order to use the collections at the RBML, you will be required to register your own Special Collections Research Account before your visit and to validate the account in person with government-issued photo identification or Columbia ID card. Once you have created your Special Collections Research Account, you will be able to schedule an appointment and request the boxes directly from the finding aid or from the CLIO online library catalog record. 

For additional resources or other topics you would like to be addressed here, please contact uarchives@columbia.edu.

Profiles

Columbia News, Columbia Magazine and Columbia College Today regularly publish articles on Latine alumni and faculty. During Hispanic Heritage Month, you will find additional profiles and links to articles on Latine alumni, faculty and staff.

Daniel Alarcón, CC 1999
John Purroy Mitchel, CC 1899
Cristina Teuscher, CC 2000

 

Additional Publications

  • Columbia Spectator
    The student newspaper, from 1877 to 2015, has been scanned and is easily searchable online.  Whenever possible pages were scanned from original paper copies and digitized using state of the art technology that provides full-page, searchable reproductions of articles, photographs, and advertisements. For articles published more recently, please search the main Spectator website.
     
  • Columbia University Record
    Beginning as the University Record (September 1973-May 1975) and continuing to this day as the Columbia University Record (July 1975-present), this important university-wide publication, now scanned and fully searchable, is an incredibly rich resource of past Columbia activities, events, scientific research, trustee and faculty appointments, awards and honors, libraries news, departmental achievements, budget and financial reporting, faculty and staff updates, as well as containing informative profiles of campus personalities from 1973 to June 2016.
     

Latino Arts & Activisms Collections at the RBML

The mission of the Latino Arts and Activisms (LAAS) collections at Columbia's Rare Book & Manuscript Library is to identify and acquire the papers and records of Latinos and Latino organizations in New York and related regions that may be of enduring significance as research resources. Areas of principal interest include the arts, politics, and community-based organizations. The collection was founded in 2012 by Professor Frances Negrón-Muntaner, who also serves as curator. 

About the images

Left -  Columbia College Students of Color reception for Latino Heritage Month with speaker Fernando Ferrer, Bronx Borough President, October 15, 1996. Scan 5947. Office of Public Affairs Photograph Collection, University Archives.

Center - Cinco de Mayo celebration organized by the Chicanx Caucus, 2015. Scan 2208. Chicanx Caucus records, University Archives.

Right - Arturo Morales Carrión teaching, 1971. Scan 5946. Spectator Photograph Collection, University Archives.

  • Last Updated: Apr 1, 2025 2:40 PM
  • URL: https://guides.library.columbia.edu/uarchives
Columbia University Libraries
535 West 114th St. New York, NY 10027
Phone
212-854-7309
Contact Us
lio@columbia.edu
Follow Us