Latin America and the Caribbean: Photographs, Manuscripts, and Imprints

Indian woman, Trinidad,
ca. 1879

2433 Peruvian Central R.R.,
The Verrugas Bridge, ca. 1893

A coffee branch, ca. 1890s

[View of buildings and rubble
in St. Pierre, Martinique, after
eruption of Mt. Pelee], 1902

Casa Blanca, ca. 1900

[Governor General's Palace,
Havana, Surrendering. Spanish
Troops Marching Out], 1899

Revolution in the streets of
Cochabamba, Bolivia,
ca. 1873-1878

About the Collection

Holding library: DeGolyer Library

View more collections held by DeGolyer Library

Overview

Latin America and the Caribbean: Photographs, Manuscripts, and Imprints provides a sample of the thousands of photographs relating to Latin America and the Caribbean held by SMU's DeGolyer Library.

Collection Materials

The digital collection portrays the landscape, people, and technology of  various countries, including Costa Rica, Peru, Bolivia, El Salvador, and Cuba in the late 19th century, and includes a set of photos of St. Pierre, Martinique, before and after the eruption of Mt. Pelee in 1902. The DeGolyer Library also holds significant collections relating to Mexico, which are found in Mexico: Photographs, Manuscripts, and Imprints.

Holdings and Highlights

The collection includes images from several DeGolyer accessions, including:

• Charles Lummis photographs of Mexico and Peru (cyanotypes of Peru ca. 1890-1906)
• Costa Rica (views of landscape, coffee plantations, Poas Volcano, Turrialba Volcano, and railroad construction ca. 1885-1890)
• Edward A. Flint collection of views of Peru and Bolivia (views of scenery and railroads in Bolivia and Peru ca. 1869-1878)
• Mt. Pelee volcano, St. Pierre, Martinique (album showing Martinique and St. Pierre and before, during, and after the horrific eruption of Mt. Pelee in 1902)
• Photographs of Jamaica, Trinidad, and Venezuela containing 48 photographs of towns, harbors, people, railroads and 1896 maps of Caracas and Venezuela y Sus Ferrocarriles. Also included are views of sugar cane fields and workers, a photographer with a view camera, plantation houses, workers from India in Jamaica, Spanish Town, Jamaica, and some formal studio portraits of Indian workers in Trinidad by Felix Morin.
• San Salvador, El Salvador (photographs of parks, a cemetery, and a house in San Salvador ca, 1900 by landscape photographer Peter Fassold)
• Spanish American War, (series of three photographs showing the ceremony marking the end of Spanish rule in Cuba on January 1, 1899, and the beginning of the U.S. occupation of Cuba)