Research Catalog

Title

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

Author

Lachatañeré, Rómulo

Publication

[1947?]-1952.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

• 266 items (1.6 cubic ft., 7 boxes); 26 x 21 cm and smaller.
• 186 photographic prints : gelatin silver, black and white ;
• 46 photographic prints : gelatin silver, black and white ;
• 34 contact sheets : gelatin silver, black and white ;

Summary

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.

Subjects

• Hispanic Americans > New York (State) > New York
• Black people > Puerto Rico
• East Harlem (New York, N.Y.)
• Street life > New York (State) > New York
• Gelatin silver prints > 1940-1959
• Group portraits > 1940-1959
• Portrait photographs > 1940-1959
• Puerto Rico > Social conditions > 1952-
• Puerto Rico > Economic conditions > 1918-1952
• Children > Puerto Rico > 1950-1959
• Sugar industry > Puerto Rico > 1950-1959
• Children > New York (State) > New York > 1940-1959
• City & town life > New York (State) > New York > 1940-1959
• African Americans > New York (State) > New York

Genre/Form

• Portrait photographs – 1940-1959.
• Group portraits – 1940-1959.
• Gelatin silver prints – 1940-1959.

Note

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

Terms of Use (note)

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

Biography (note)

• 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.

Call Number

Sc Photo Portfolio (Lachatañeré, R. )

OCLC

1281681526

Author

Lachatañeré, Rómulo, photographer.

Title

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

Production

[1947?]-1952.

Type of Content

still image

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

sheet

Terms Of Use

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

Biography

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.

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Research Call Number

Sc Photo Portfolio (Lachatañeré, R. )