106 · Representative Documents: Collection Descriptions
University of Texas at Austin
About the Benson Latin American Collection
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/benson/about.html
About the Benson Latin American Collection
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/benson/about.html[8/10/11 1:54:52 PM]
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About The Benson Latin American Collection
The Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection, a
unit of the University of Texas Libraries, is a specialized
research library focusing on materials from and about Latin
America, and on materials relating to Latinos in the United
States. Latin America is here defined to include Mexico,
Central America, the Caribbean island nations, South
America, and areas of the United States during the period
they were a part of the Spanish Empire or Mexico. Named
in honor of its former director (1942-1975), the Nettie Lee
Benson Collection contains over 970,000 books, periodicals,
pamphlets, and microforms 4,000 linear feet of
manuscripts 19,000 maps 11,500 broadsides 93,500
photographs and 50,000 items in a variety of other media
(sound recordings, drawings, video tapes and cassettes, slides, transparencies, posters, memorabilia, and
electronic media). Periodical titles are estimated at over 40,000 with 8,000 currently received titles and over 3,000
newspaper titles. Initially endowed with a superb collection of rare books and manuscripts relating to Mexico, the
Benson Collection now maintains important holdings for all countries of Latin America with special concentrations on
the countries of the Río de la Plata, Brazil, Chile, Peru, and Central America. The Mexican American Library
Program, a department of the collection established in 1974, has gathered extensive research materials in all
subject areas related to the U.S. Southwest and Latino culture in the U.S. In sum, the book collection of the Benson
Collection represents approximately ten percent of all of the volumes in the University of Texas Libraries, the fifth
largest academic library in the United States. While the purchase of private libraries laid the foundation for the
Benson Collection, the acquisition of current publications is now the major factor in its growth. Researchers from
the U.S. and abroad have been attracted to this remarkable resource through the last eight decades, coming to
consult materials accumulated from all parts of the world, in many languages, dating from the fifteenth century to
the present. (More about the Benson Collection)
View a talk about the history of the Benson Collection by retired Benson Collection archivist, Jane
Garner.
Library Hours, Address, &Staff Contact Information
Complete Links to Benson Collection Online Exhibits...
email: blac@lib.utexas.edu
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