Research

The Immigration Control and Reform Act of 1986 (ICRA) provided legal status for millions of illegal immigrants and migrant agricultural workers. It also tightened restrictions on employers, enacting new documentation requirements and penalties for employers who hired illegal workers.

In the 1960s and 1970s, scores of Latino-oriented organizations were founded in Harlem, the Bronx, Rochester, and other locations throughout New York. These organizations focused on education, health services, urban renewal, job training, addiction treatment, and youth programs. Many of founders of these organizations had ties to the Black Panthers, other African American groups, or War on Poverty programs such as Head Start. Others were lawyers, educators, or health care workers, many of whom were women.

Latino and Hispanic immigrants in New York State have found diverse ways to acculturate and forge new identities while celebrating their homelands and culture.  Newly-arrived Dominicans in New York City in the 1960s, for example, embraced local politics, making their presence known through strong civic participation.  Clubs and cultural organizations provide entertainment and companionship, while serving to continue ethnic traditions and maintain strong cultural identity for new generations.

The New York State Education Department’s Office of Bilingual Education was established in 1969 to support to districts offering programs for limited English proficient students. Bilingual education in New York received a further boost in 1974 when the parties in Aspira v. Board of Education signed the ASPIRA Consent Decree declaring the right to transitional bilingual education and English as a Second Language for New York City students.

By 1989, HIV had been identified as the virus that caused AIDS and organizations formed to combat the disease that had already devastated the gay male population. These activists were less equipped, however, to address the new front of the disease’s spread as it ravaged largely heterosexual populations of Latinos and Blacks in communities such as the South Bronx.

By connecting collections housed in several New York State repositories, the Ventana al Pasado project highlights the research potential for telling the stories of New York Latinos' communities and people.  These summaries of overarching themes hint at the depth, scope, and interrelated nature of the materials represented by the project.

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• Arts and Culture
• Business
• Education
• Family and Community Life
• Health and Community Welfare
• Major historical events and milestones in Hispanic history
• Migration and Settlement
• Occupation and Labor
• Organizations and Leaders
• Politics, Government, and Law
• Racial and/or Ethnic Identity
• Religion
• Social Reform
• Women

• Centro de Estudios Puertorriqueños
• New York State Archives
• Cornell University
  • Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections
  • Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives