LAL News

Staff Spotlight: Hortensia Calvo, Christine Hernández, and Rachel Stein

This summer, The Latin American Library (LAL) offered a satellite course for the University of Virginia’s Rare Book School (RBS)—a milestone in expanding the RBS curriculum to incorporate forms of writing, recording, and printing from Mexico and Central and South America. Dr. Hortensia Calvo, Doris Stone Librarian and Director of LAL; Dr. Christine Hernández, Curator of Special Collections at… (read more)

Alumni couple’s bequest to Tulane’s Latin American Library caps decades of giving

May 4, 2021 by Patrick. J Davis

A couple whose longtime philanthropy has helped solidify the Latin American Library (LAL) as one of Tulane University’s crown jewels is now making it the beneficiary of a large bequest.

The estate gift from Tulane alumni James Morrill (A&S ’69) and Dr. Penny Chittim Morrill (NC ’69) will bolster their two existing funds: the Jim and Penny… (read more)

Collections Highlight: Conservation work on the Codex Tulane

In this spring season of renewal, the Codex Tulane, or Códice Huamelulpan, has had a rebirth of its own. A mid-sixteenth century Mesoamerican painted manuscript on deer hide, the codex consists of inscriptions, pictorial and otherwise, likely used in court proceedings for land litigation.  Recorded pictorially is a mythological origin scene to begin the document followed by the genealogies of… (read more)

Tulanian Spring 2021: Family Papers

4/12/21 by Amanda Morlas, photo by Sally Asher

The Latin American Library at Tulane has acquired by donation the Chamorro Barrios Family Papers (1767–1997), one of Latin America’s most influential families and key players in the national life of Nicaragua since the 18th century.

“The collection is rich in previously unexplored documents which will add new insights on the… (read more)