Research Catalog

Details

Description

1. 266 items (1.6 cubic ft., 7 boxes); 26 x 21 cm and smaller.

Summary

1. Depictions of African Americans and Latinos living in New York City, from 1947 to 1951, and of workers and their families in Puerto Rico, in 1952, consisting of candid shots and group portraits of children, women, families, musicians, and mostly male laborers; and views of New York families at leisure, street life, construction projects, housing and living conditions, sugar cane field workers, sugar refinery workers, salt flat workers, female laundry and sewing workers, and dwellings in urban and coastal environments. A candid shot of the photographer in Puerto Rico (1952) is included. Some images are only available as contact sheets.

Subject

1. African Americans -- New York (State) -- New York
2. Hispanic Americans -- New York (State) -- New York
3. City & town life -- New York (State) -- New York -- 1940-1959
4. Street life -- New York (State) -- New York
5. Children -- New York (State) -- New York -- 1940-1959
6. Black people -- Puerto Rico
7. Sugar industry -- Puerto Rico -- 1950-1959
8. Children -- Puerto Rico -- 1950-1959
9. Puerto Rico -- Economic conditions -- 1918-1952
10. Puerto Rico -- Social conditions -- 1952-
11. East Harlem (New York, N.Y.)

Genre/Form

1. Portrait photographs – 1940-1959.
2. Group portraits – 1940-1959.
3. Gelatin silver prints – 1940-1959.

Call number

1. Sc Photo Portfolio (Lachatañeré, R. )

Language

1. English

Note

1. Title based on photo captions and texts about the photographer.
2. Many photographs bear handwritten captions on verso. Many items are mounted. Some contact sheets bear image selection marks on recto. Some items are duplicates.
3. Images of Puerto Rico were developed and printed posthumously.

Terms of use (note)

1. Collection is under copyright; permission of the copyright holder is required for duplication.

Biography (note)

1. Rómulo Lachatañeré, 1906-1952, was born in Santiago de Cuba. A self-taught ethnologist and photographer who moved to New York City in 1939, Lachatañeré wrote articles and two books, "Oh Mio! Yemaya" (1938) and "Manual de Santeria" (1942), on Afro-Cuban religious beliefs. He also wrote articles and news reports on the conditions of Puerto Ricans living in the United States, and race relations in Cuba. In the mid-1940s, Lachatañeré began using photography as a documentary resource, recording the social and living conditions of African Americans and Puerto Ricans in East Harlem and Brooklyn, New York. In early 1952, after photographing the conditions of workers and their families in Puerto Rico, Lachatañeré died in a plane crash returning to the United States. Film rolls, mailed to his wife Sara, were posthumously developed and organized as an exhibition by his colleague Jack Lessinger.

Author

1. Lachatañeré, Rómulo, photographer.

Title

1. Photographs of New York City and Puerto Rico / Rómulo Lachatañeré.

Production

1. [1947?]-1952.

Type of content

1. still image

Type of medium

1. unmediated

Type of carrier

1. sheet

Terms of use

1. Collection is under copyright; permission of the copyright holder is required for duplication.

Biography

1. Rómulo Lachatañeré, 1906-1952, was born in Santiago de Cuba. A self-taught ethnologist and photographer who moved to New York City in 1939, Lachatañeré wrote articles and two books, "Oh Mio! Yemaya" (1938) and "Manual de Santeria" (1942), on Afro-Cuban religious beliefs. He also wrote articles and news reports on the conditions of Puerto Ricans living in the United States, and race relations in Cuba. In the mid-1940s, Lachatañeré began using photography as a documentary resource, recording the social and living conditions of African Americans and Puerto Ricans in East Harlem and Brooklyn, New York. In early 1952, after photographing the conditions of workers and their families in Puerto Rico, Lachatañeré died in a plane crash returning to the United States. Film rolls, mailed to his wife Sara, were posthumously developed and organized as an exhibition by his colleague Jack Lessinger.

Connect to:

1. Request Appointment
2. NYPL Digital Collections

Research call number

1. Sc Photo Portfolio (Lachatañeré, R. )