USC Libraries announced Tuesday the acquisition of the records of CCNMA: Latino Journalists of California, the first advocacy organization for journalists of color to incorporate.
The organization was founded in 1972 in Los Angeles, then known as the California Chicano News Media Association. It was created to promote the work and advancement of Latino journalists, offering scholarships, educational programs and job fairs.
“The USC Libraries are thrilled to partner with CCNMA and the USC Annenberg School to safeguard this important archive on Latino voices in California news media since the 1970s,” USC Libraries interim dean Marje Schuetze-Coburn said in a statement. “It’s a significant addition to the rich documentary resources for understanding California that we are building as part of the libraries’ Collections Convergence Initiative.”
According to USC, the organization’s records include correspondence, reports, administrative records, photographs, subject files, clippings, audiovisual material and event programs. The materials are being incorporated into the Boeckmann Center for Iberian and Latin American Studies, where they will “serve as an essential scholarly resource on Latino journalism advocacy.”
“When CCNMA’s treasurer Joe Rodriguez led the effort to unearth decades of archives that had been sitting in a basement, mostly untouched for years, we discovered a treasure trove of photos, artwork, documents and more representing a vital part of the history of Latino journalists in California,” Laurie Ochoa, CCNMA president and general manager of food coverage and initiatives at the Los Angeles Times, said in a statement. “It was important for us to secure a home for the archives that would help current and future researchers understand the struggles and triumphs of journalism by and about Latinos as it evolved over the years. It’s so gratifying that the USC Libraries has provided such a prestigious home for the archives.”
USC officials said the acquisition will bolster its current holdings on Latino journalism, including personal papers of the late Los Angeles Times columnist and KMEX news director Ruben Salazar, KCBS/KNBC reporter Bob Navarro and Pulitzer Prize-winning Times editor Frank Sotomayor.