By David Beltran
The nation’s longest publishing Spanish-language newspaper, El Diario/La Prensa, unveiled plans on Tuesday to partner with Columbia University to preserve its collection of over 5,000 photographs as part of its anniversary celebration.
“My dream was that in the 365 days of 2013, every New Yorker will at some moment have seen El Diario,” said publisher Rossana Rosado at a news conference at Columbia University Medical Center. “And recognize that El Diario has been here for 100 years.”
The photos were co-curated by Frances Negron-Muntaner, director of Columbia’s Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race, and range from the 1970s to the present. Negron-Muntaner said the photos in the exhibits will let people see through the eyes of El Diario’s photographers. The photos range from depictions of neighborhood festivals to prominent persons and common street scenes.
“Despite a substantial and transformative presence of Latinos in New York…they remain largely ignored by the English language media,” said Negron-Muntaner. “And when recognized, largely confined to crime and illegal immigration stories.”
The idea of archiving and sharing the photos first occurred to Rosado last year when she realized the large and rich collection of photos they had.
“ As we were planning for the anniversary, we found we had these riches archived,” said Rosado. “We wanted to find a home for it.”
While the collection contains photos mostly from the 1970s and onward, the history of El Diario/La Prensa dates back to 1913 when the first issue of La Prensa was published. The paper covered local news, as well as news from Latin-American countries and took part in community events such as raising money for victims of an earthquake in Puerto Rico in 1917.
La Prensa merged with El Diario in 1963 and adopted the slogan “El Campeon de los Hispanos” or “The Champion of Hispanics.” This is something that Rosado takes to heart.
“Who else gets to have a career where you’re actually doing journalism but you’re still also serving your community?” said Rosado. “It’s been an amazing gift for me personally, for the community, and the staff at El Diario.”
The exhibits at Columbia will be part of a series of special events being hosted by El Diario/La Prensa through the rest of 2013 including a “Latino Theater and Music Fiesta” at Grand Central Terminal. Through these exhibits, Rosado hopes to show El Diario’s part in New York history.
“We want to show new yorkers that we’ve been here for a long time,” said Rosado, “that we’re part of the history, we’re part of the sad stories, the happy stories, we’re part of the moments of growth, we’re part of the celebrations, and that we are New Yorkers.”
On October 12, the Empire State Building will light up in red and blue to commemorate the exact date which El Diario published its first issue and to honor its legacy.
“I think newspaper brands, media brands, do what they do – they cover news,” said Rosado. “But at El Diario, we take to heart, our service to the community. Our front page says ‘El Campeon de los Hispanos’ and we take that to heart.”
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