Featured are three distinct collections that exemplify the depth and variety of the library’s holdings on 20th-century cultural, social, and political processes that continue to shape Latin American societies. Covering a range of decades, countries, approaches, and formats, the collections selected document persistent struggles around authoritarianism and democracy as they have structured public and private life. They also reveal the ways in which mass media supported by 20th-century technologies such as print, radio, and film were often deployed for varying purposes in these processes.
Before television or streaming media, people listened to the radio or went to movie theaters where newsreels would broadcast current events and cultural happenings. About 15 minutes in length, these short clips were typically screened before the feature film. In Latin America, newsreels were an important medium for shaping public opinion, and they were often used by governments as a propaganda tool. We invite you to watch Noticiero Lorotone, below, the first newsreel produced in El Salvador. Alfredo Massi, the director, was a pioneer of documentary filmmaking in the country. Additionally, listen to radio soap operas from the 1960s from the Louis J. Boeri and Minín Boeri Collection of Cuban American Radionovelas, 1963–1970, in the Tulane University Digital Library.