FLVC logo

Cuentos de mi Familia project records, 2002-2003, Date acquired: 06/00/2003

 

Summary

Creator:
Mckiernan-Gonzalez, John Raymond
Abstract:
Collection consists of the records of the Cuentos de mi Familia project of the University of South Florida, ENLACE (Engaging Latino Communities for Education),  the Hispanic Professional Women's Association and the Hillsborough County School System.
Extent:
2.66 Linear Feet
5 boxes
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

Cuentos de mi Familia Project Records, USF Libraries - Tampa Special Collections, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL.

Background

Scope and content:

Project records consist of correspondence, reports, publications, family histories, biographies, and other materials generated  and donated by the Cuentos de mi Familia project participants, including visual "public projects" using symbolism and visual imagery to represent the experiences of families that came to Florida from Mexico, Honduras, Puerto Rico, El Salvador, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic.

Biographical / historical:

Directed by former USF history professor John McKiernan-Gonzalez, the Cuentos de mi Familia project was a collaboration between the University of South Florida, ENLACE (Engaging Latino Communities for Education),  the Hispanic Professional Women's Association and the Hillsborough County School System.  During the nine-week project, Latino students from immigrant families in seven Hillsborough County middle schools wrote histories based on the experiences of their own families.  The participating schools were Dowdell, Eisenhower, Marshall, McLane, Pierce, Tomlin and Webb Middle Schools.

The histories record the experiences of families that came to Florida from Puerto Rico, Mexico, Honduras, Peru, Cuba, Venezuela, Colombia, El Salvador, and the Dominican Republic. The students wrote about the life experiences of their parents and other relatives, both before and after arriving in the United States. The histories are primarily in English, though some Spanish language material is present in the collection.

The student projects included posters and other displays as well as text, and were featured in several public events held in Hillsborough County. Images of the student displays and of family photographs and other visual materials used in the student projects are present on the computer disc that accompanies the collection (located in Box 1, folder 3).

The family histories were published in a 170-page book entitled Cuentos de mi Familia: Selected Works.  The Cuentos project was featured in a nationally-distributed publication, Weaving a Path to Success for Latino Students (W.W. Kellogg Foundation, 2003) as an example of successful ENLACE-sponsored community programs.  The project's archive was formally presented to the USF Library by the student participants and their families at an event held in the Grace Allen Room on the evening of October 1, 2003.

In 2005, Professor McKiernan-Gonzalez added to the collection three booklets documenting student family histories generated by 2005 continuations of the project at Dowdell Middle School, Pierce Middle School, and McLane Middle School.

Note written by Paul Camp

Acquisition information:

John McKiernan-Gonzalez

Donation.

Arrangement:

Materials are arranged alphabetically by type of material.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Terms of access:

None.  The contents of the collection may be subject to copyright.  Visit the United States Copyright Office's website at http://www.copyright.gov/ for more information.

The use of the projects for outside presentations must receive written or e-mail permission from at least one of the scholars and curators involved in the project. This written permission will be part of the correspondence that will be archived and processed for the collection.

Preferred citation:

Cuentos de mi Familia Project Records, USF Libraries - Tampa Special Collections, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL.

Location of this collection:
The University of South Florida, Tampa Campus
4202 East Fowler Ave. LIB122
Tampa
FL
33620-5400
USA