Home movies documenting various events in a small, close-knit, South Bronx, New York community of Puerto Ricans who came to the mainland U.S. in the 1920s and 1930s. The films depict birthdays, weddings and Christmas celebrations.
Scope and Contents:
These films, created by Manuel Quiles, document a small community of Puerto Rican immigrants who arrived in the United States during the 1920s and 1930s. These Puerto Rican families were located mostly in the South Bronx, New York. The films contain footage of family gatherings and holiday celebrations, as well as family trips to the Bronx Zoo, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, the 1964-1965 New York World's Fair, and Mexico.
Arrangement:
The collection is organized into one series that contains all films and videos. The original order of each reel of film was retained. The reels are organized chronologically.
Biographical / Historical:
Manuel Ismael Quiles (June 17, 1908 - October 1989) grew up in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, and moved with his family to the U.S. in the 1920s. Throughout his life, Quiles worked in a number of professions that allowed him to use his artistic talents. During the Depression he traveled to Chicago and joined the Civilian Conservation Corps, which sent him to Wyoming to work as a photographer for a newspaper. Later he returned to New York City and studied tool and die, machine, and patent model making at Gompers High School. After World War II, Quiles continued to pursue his artistic interests by working as a silk screen artist for a sign and showcase company. Later, he designed Spanish greeting cards and created labels for products sold in religious and botanical stores. Throughout his lifetime Quiles worked as a photographer, camera maker, silk screen artist, sculptor, locksmith, and wood carver.
Eventually Manuel Quiles gained recognition as an artist through his relationship with Jay Johnson, the owner of America's Folk Heritage Gallery. Quiles began to sell and exhibit his work at Johnson's New York gallery. When working on his sculptures, Quiles relied on woodworking skills he learned as a child from his cousin, a cabinet maker in Puerto Rico. References to his art work can be found in both Jay Johnson's American Folk Art of the Twentieth Century and Carolyn Morrow Long's Spiritual Merchants: Religion, Magic, and Commerce.
Provenance:
Donated by Mario Quilles and Priscilla Q. Wood in 2001.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research and access on site by appointment. Unprotected films must be handled with gloves.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Includes interviews conducted by Rico Washington with former and current residents of public housing in New York City. The series consist of audio digital files and transcripts which are arranged alphabetically by interviewee.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist to make an appointment: ACMarchives@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Collection Citation:
We the People Project Records, Anacostia Community Museum Archives, Smithsonian Institution, gift of Rico Washington and Shino Yanagawa.
Majora Carter is from the South Bronx who advocates for environmental justice for low income residents. Carter talks how she helps people in low income homes fight against Environmental deteriments such as garbage dumps being placed in their communties. She also explains how she got into advocacy and ways for people to get out of housing projects.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist to make an appointment: ACMarchives@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Rachel Bayron is from Throggs Neck a community in Bronx. New York. She talks about why she is helping to build a new park and the positive effects she is trying to have in her community. She highlights the differences between the Throggs Neck she lived in as a kid and the one she lives in as an adult.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist to make an appointment: ACMarchives@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Ruben Quiles is a resident of the Gun Hill Houses in Bronx, New York. Quiles works at the local boys and girls club working towards providing kids with the tools to better themselves in the future. He talks about the problems the youth face and how the boys and girls club strives to alleviate those problems.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist to make an appointment: ACMarchives@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Sean Covant lives in the South Bronx, New York City and talks about living in the area. Covant explains how people manage to survive harsh economic recessions and the consequences of economic downturns. He explains the failure of New York City schools and how that impacts its students. Covant also talks about the importance of libraries and the impact it has on a neighborhood.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist to make an appointment: ACMarchives@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Tony Medina is an author/poet who grew up in the Throggs Neck neighborhood in the Bronx, New York. Medina describes the difference between the predominantly minority housing projects he lived in and the white neighborhoods that bordered them. Medina explains how his upbrining helped inspire his writing.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist to make an appointment: ACMarchives@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Topic:
American poetry -- African American authors Search this
Yvonne Shields is a chef at Broadway Community, Inc in Manhattan but is a resident of the Highbridge Gardens housing projects in the Bronx, New York. Shields disccuesses her problems with life in the housing projects and how she believes it could imporve. She also talks about what she enjoys about being a chef for a community kitchen.
Collection Restrictions:
Use of the materials requires an appointment. Please contact the archivist to make an appointment: ACMarchives@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Black-and-white photoprints from two documentary projects: "In the South Bronx of America" and "Refuge". Mel Rosenthal's mission in the Bronx project was to record the deterioration and poverty there. Some photographs from the Bronx project have also been used in the "Refuge" project, because they document immigrants who moved into the Bronx.
Scope and Contents:
Silver gelatin black-and-white photoprints from two documentary projects: "In the South Bronx of America" (1975-1983, 42 prints) and "Refuge" (6 prints). According to Leonard Kriegel, Rosenthal's mission in the Bronx project and its book version was simply "to record the horror that is there....He wants us to feel shame at what has been done to the people of the South Bronx by a nation so indifferent to suffering that it can pretend the mean streets were burned down by their inhabitants." (Siegel, "In Sorrowful Celebration of the Bronx," Forward, Feb. 23, 2001, p. 13)
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into two series.
Series 1: In the South Bronx of America, as reproduced in the book
Series 2: Not in Book: From the "South Bronx of America" Project and the "Refuge" Project
Biographical / Historical:
Mel Rosenthal was born on March 5, 1940, and grew up close to the South Bronx neighborhood in which he made many of the photographs in this collection decades later, beginning in 1975. He earned a Ph.D. in English literature and American studies from the University of Connecticut, with a dissertation on the effect of alienation on American writers.
He traveled to Africa and worked as a medical photographer at the University Hospital in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. He engaged in other photographic projects there and soon had dedicated himself to documentary photography.
He became a Distinguished Professor of Art at SUNY/Empire State College. He has been the photography editor of culturefront, the magazine of the New York Council for the Humanities. He was awarded fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.
He became a Distinguished Professor of Art at SUNY/Empire State College. He has been the photography editor of culturefront, the magazine of the New York Council for the Humanities. He was awarded fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Provenance:
Collection donated by Roberta Perry Mapp, July 21, 2012.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Rights:
Mel Rosenthal retains copyright. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Video recordings (127 minutes, color sound, 1/2 inch VHS)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Film reels
Video recordings
Sound films
Place:
North America
Bronx (New York, N.Y.)
Date:
circa 1990
Scope and Contents:
Maria De Luca's film, Green Streets. Videos consist of an 87 minute version and 40 minute version.
Please note that the contents of the collection and the language and terminology used reflect the context and culture of the time of its creation. As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today. The information within this collection does not reflect the views of the Smithsonian Institution or Anthropology Archives, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.
Provenance:
Received from Maria De Luca in 1997.
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research. Please contact the archives for information on availability of access copies of audiovisual recordings. Original audiovisual material in the Human Studies Film Archives may not be played.
Alan Harwood is a Professor Emeritus at University of Massachusetts, Boston in the Anthropology Department. Trained in social anthropology he has studied illness and healing in Tanzania and communities in New York City and Boston. Harwood was the founding editor of Medical Anthropology Quarterly (new series, 1986-1991) and series editor of Cambridge Studies in Medical Anthropology (1999-2004) The bulk of this collection is composed of Alan Harwood's 1962-1964 ethnographic research among the Safwa in Tanzania (then known as Tanganyika); his research on health beliefs and medical practices of residents in a low-income area of the Bronx, New York (1967-1970); and his research in Boston, Massachusetts on different ethnic groups' conceptions of health (1994-1995). Also among his papers are materials from his involvement in the Centers for Disease Control and American Anthropological Association (AAA) Workgroup on "The Use of Race & Ethnicity as Scientific Categories" at the 1994 AAA meeting.
Scope and Contents:
The bulk of the collection is composed of Alan Harwood's ethnographic research among the Safwa in Tanzania (then known as Tanganyika); his research on health beliefs and medical practices of residents in a low-income area of the Bronx, New York; and his research in Boston, Massachusetts on different ethnic groups' conceptions of health. The few photographs in the collection are aerial views of Isyesye, where he conducted his Safwa research, and images from Utengule taken by White Fathers and dating from the 1940s. The collection also contains Harwood's linguistic recordings of Kimalila and of Kisafwa and Kinyiha spoken in various dialects. In addition, the collection contains sound recordings of Safwa ceremonies and an audio letter from Harold Conklin, Mario Bick, Georgeda Buchbinder Bick, and Michiko Takaki. Also among his papers are his correspondence as the editor of Medical Anthropology Quarterly and of Ethnicity and Medical Care; materials from his involvement in the Centers for Disease Control and American Anthropological Association (AAA) Workgroup on "The Use of Race & Ethnicity as Scientific Categories" at the 1994 AAA meeting; and letters of recommendation (restricted until 2056) that Harwood wrote for students and colleagues. In addition, the collection contains Harwood's course notes as an undergraduate student at Harvard and as a graduate student at University of Michigan and Columbia University. The collection also contains Harwood's research notes on North Luzon as Conklin's student research assistant at Columbia University. Harwood's correspondence is spread throughout the collection and filed by project. Among his notable correspondents are Harold Conklin and Joseph Greenberg. Their letters can be found with the Safwa materials.
Arrangement:
Arranged into 8 series: (1) Safwa Research, 1961-1970; (2) Bronx Research, 1957-1986; (3) Boston Research, 1993-1996; (4) Professional Activities, 1975-2001; (5) Student Files, 1953-1962; (6) Microfilm; (7) Photographs, circa 1940s & 1963; (8) Sound Recordings, 1962-1964
Biographical/Historical note:
Alan Harwood was born on March 20, 1935 in Tarrytown, New York. He earned his undergraduate degree, magna cum laude, in Social Relations from Harvard University in 1957 and attended the London School of Economics on a one year fellowship the following year. When he returned to the United States, he began his graduate studies in anthropology at the University of Michigan, earning his M.A. in 1960. He went on to Columbia University for his doctorate, which he was awarded in 1967.
Under a pre-doctoral fellowship funded by the Social Science Research Council, Harwood conducted ethnographic research on the Safwa of the southwestern region of Tanganyika (now known as Tanzania). From September 1962 to 1964, Harwood carried out his research mainly in the village of Isyesye, near Mbeya, Southern Highlands Region. At the time, witchcraft accusations were common, and it thus became the subject of his dissertation, Witchcraft, Sorcery, and Social Categories among the Safwa, later published in 1970.
In 1967, Harwood was hired by the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Health Center (formerly called the Neighborhood Medical Care Demonstration) in Bronx, New York. From 1967 to 1970, he directed a study on the health, illness, and medical beliefs and practices of residents in a low-income area of the south Bronx. One of the articles produced from this research was Harwood's "The Hot-Cold Theory of Disease: Implications for Treatment of Puerto Rican Patients" (1971). Harwood also looked at spiritism among the Puerto Rican community, which led to his publication, Rx: Spiritist as Needed: A Study of a Puerto Rican Community Mental Health Resource (1977).
From 1994 to 1995, Harwood was the co-principal investigator of a study conducted under the Tufts New England Medical Center on conceptions of health and well-being among 4 ethnic groups in Boston: African Americans, Mandarin-speaking Chinese Americans, Irish Americans, and Puerto Ricans. Harwood led the group studying Irish Americans.
In addition to his research, Harwood was the founding editor of Medical Anthropology Quarterly (new series, 1986-1991) and series editor of Cambridge Studies in Medical Anthropology (1999-2004) and of Studies in Medical Anthropology (2004-2006). He also edited Ethnicity and Medical Care (1981), a book geared towards health professionals.
In 1971, Harwood spent a year in New Zealand as a visiting senior lecturer at the University of Auckland. From 1972 to 2002, he was a professor of Anthropology at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. During his tenure, he also served as adjunct professor in the Department of Psychology (1993-2002) and as associate dean for Undergraduate Education, College of Arts and Sciences (1998-2001). In addition, he was a lecturer in the Department of Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School (1992-present).
In 1982, Harwood was honored with the Wellcome Medal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland for Research in Anthropology as Applied to Medical Problems. He is also a Fellow of the American Anthropological Association and of the Society for Applied Anthropology.
Restrictions:
Materials that identify the participants in Harwood's Bronx and Boston studies are restricted until 2056.
Rights:
Contact repository for terms of use.
Topic:
Language and languages -- Documentation Search this
102 Hip Hop / Brothers Inc. 4 Da Lord (Musical group).
Local Numbers:
FP-1997-CT-0303-7
Publication, Distribution, Etc. (Imprint):
United States 1997
Date/Time and Place of an Event Note:
Recorded in: Washington (D.C.), United States, June 25, 1997.
Restrictions:
Restrictions on access. SI Permission.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. Please visit our website to learn more about submitting a request. The Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections make no guarantees concerning copyright or other intellectual property restrictions. Other usage conditions may apply; please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for more information.
101 Muslim Praise Song / Jerusalemite Chant Group. Percussion instruments.
102 Japanese Ritual Music / Hawai'i Gagaku Kenkyuakai. Percussion instruments,Flute.
103 Hip Hop / Brothers Inc. 4 Da Lord (Musical group).
Local Numbers:
FP-1997-CT-0305-7
Date/Time and Place of an Event Note:
Recorded in: Washington (D.C.), United States, June 26, 1997.
Restrictions:
Restrictions on access. SI Permission.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. Please visit our website to learn more about submitting a request. The Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections make no guarantees concerning copyright or other intellectual property restrictions. Other usage conditions may apply; please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for more information.
103 South African Dance Worship / International Christian Church (South Africa). Percussion instruments.
Local Numbers:
FP-1997-CT-0306-7
Publication, Distribution, Etc. (Imprint):
United States 1997
Date/Time and Place of an Event Note:
Recorded in: Washington (D.C.), United States, June 26, 1997.
Restrictions:
Restrictions on access. SI Permission.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. Please visit our website to learn more about submitting a request. The Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections make no guarantees concerning copyright or other intellectual property restrictions. Other usage conditions may apply; please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for more information.
Recorded in: Washington (D.C.), United States, June 27, 1997.
Restrictions:
Restrictions on access. SI Permission.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. Please visit our website to learn more about submitting a request. The Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections make no guarantees concerning copyright or other intellectual property restrictions. Other usage conditions may apply; please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for more information.
101 Hip Hop / Brothers Inc. 4 Da Lord (Musical group).
102 Japanese Ritual Music / Hawai'i Gagaku Kenkyuakai. Percussion instruments,Flute.
Local Numbers:
FP-1997-CT-0313-7
Date/Time and Place of an Event Note:
Recorded in: Washington (D.C.), United States, June 28, 1997.
Restrictions:
Restrictions on access. SI Permission.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. Please visit our website to learn more about submitting a request. The Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections make no guarantees concerning copyright or other intellectual property restrictions. Other usage conditions may apply; please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for more information.
101 Muslim Praise Song / Jerusalemite Chant Group. Percussion instruments.
102 Hip Hop / Brothers Inc. 4 Da Lord (Musical group).
Local Numbers:
FP-1997-CT-0321-7
Publication, Distribution, Etc. (Imprint):
United States 1997
Date/Time and Place of an Event Note:
Recorded in: Washington (D.C.), United States, June 29, 1997.
Restrictions:
Restrictions on access. SI Permission.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. Please visit our website to learn more about submitting a request. The Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections make no guarantees concerning copyright or other intellectual property restrictions. Other usage conditions may apply; please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for more information.
104 Hip Hop and Christian Ministry / Brothers Inc. 4 Da Lord (Musical group).
Local Numbers:
FP-1997-CT-0347-7
Publication, Distribution, Etc. (Imprint):
United States 1997
Date/Time and Place of an Event Note:
Recorded in: Washington (D.C.), United States, June 25, 1997.
Restrictions:
Restrictions on access. SI Permission.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. Please visit our website to learn more about submitting a request. The Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections make no guarantees concerning copyright or other intellectual property restrictions. Other usage conditions may apply; please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for more information.
101 Hip Hop and Christian Ministry / Brothers Inc. 4 Da Lord (Musical group).
102 Faith and Song / Indian Bottom Association.
103 Sacred and Social Identities in South Africa / Natal '77 (Musical group).
Local Numbers:
FP-1997-CT-0348-7
Publication, Distribution, Etc. (Imprint):
United States 1997
Date/Time and Place of an Event Note:
Recorded in: Washington (D.C.), United States, June 25, 1997.
Restrictions:
Restrictions on access. SI Permission.
Collection Rights:
Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. Please visit our website to learn more about submitting a request. The Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections make no guarantees concerning copyright or other intellectual property restrictions. Other usage conditions may apply; please see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for more information.