An ongoing collection of comics and zines added to the holdings of the University of Miami Libraries Special Collections, with a focus on zines produced in and/or about the Caribbean and Latin America, including diaspora communities. Zines are typically independent and self published booklets popular in underground subcultures. The first zines were fanzines, started in the early 20th century by science fiction fans documenting the genre. The format truly took off with the punk rock movement of the 1970s, as a do-it-yourself spirit inspired legions of underground punk fans to start raw but vibrant journals documenting the nascent music scenes in their communities. Zine topics would broaden throughout the 1980s and 1990s to cover a variety of subject areas, from comics to anarchist politics to women’s rights, to more mundane subjects like dumpster diving, alternative fashions, tattoo art, and much more. Despite the expansion of topics, the format usually remained the same—self-published booklets printed in limited editions and typically produced with a photocopy machine.
This collection brings together a variety of historical documents that are topically related to Latin America, including manuscripts, correspondence, and illustrations. The documents range from 1420 to 1994 in date, and originate from Mexico, New Granada, Panama, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, and other parts of Latin America.
The Latin American and Caribbean photograph collection brings together various photographic materials owned by the University of Miami that depict these two regions. Currently, the collection holds a 1929 photograph album of the Bahamas made by Dr. and Adelande Dolley; a 1913 photograph album of Costa Rica, Panama, and Jamaica; a two-volume photograph album set of the Roxana Petroleum Corporation's activities in Mexico, dated 1920-1923; a set of 88 photographs of various parts of the Dominican Republic; and a collection of 739 photographs (most of which are in two photograph albums) from 1925 to the 1940s documenting the family and social life of Mr. & Mrs. E. W. Monroe and their three children while living in suburban Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1925 to 1929, and subsequently back at the family homestead in Monticello, Indiana.
This collection contains 20 maps and 10 prints in French, depicting locales and images from the Americas and the Caribbean during the 18th and 19th centuries.
