El Diario/La Prensa Photograph Morgue, circa 1970-2006

The El Diario/La Prensa Photograph Morgue contains photographs and associated materials kept as reference, or morgue, files by the staff of the New York City Spanish language newspaper El Diario/La Prensa. The collection documents events and personalities significant to New York City's Spanish-speaking communities from approximately 1970 to 2006. This documentation is grouped in two series. Series I contains photograph files for noteworthy personalities or events. Series II contains files of negatives, contact sheets, and photographic prints created by staff photographers which are generally grouped by month and year. Researchers searching for specific events will need to search series II by date.

Photographic materials in the collection came from various sources. Some photographic prints in Series I were created by the newspaper's staff photographers. However, Series I also contains thermal facsimile photographs from news agencies and publicity photographs of entertainers. Many of the publicity photographs promote performers based in New York City, or performers based in Latin America and the Caribbean whose careers may not otherwise be well-documented in the United States.

Photographic negatives, prints, and contact sheets by the El Diario/La Prensa staff photographers Humberto Arellano, Osvaldo Perez, and José A. Rivera make up the bulk of Series II. A small number of contact sheets and negatives by Carlos Morales, and photographic prints by Luis Vargas, are also included. These materials were created primarily by staff photographers working on assignment to cover newsworthy events. The series also incorporates a small amount of documentation of the photographic assignment process and other operational activities of El Diario/La Prensa's staff photographic department, primarily in the form of office memos and expense reports.

Local events documented in the collection include New York City parades, protests, press conferences, arts and cultural events, community events, and crimes. Staff photographers were assigned to cover many of these events, and the resulting photographs can be found in Series II. Events of national and international significance are primarily documented as news agency photographs in Series I. Noteworthy personalities include sports stars, musicians, actors, politicians, and high-profile criminals. Photographs of personalities are present in both series.

Though the history of El Diario/La Prensa spans more than a century, materials from the photograph morgue dating from prior to the 1970s no longer exist. Some materials were gradually lost or discarded in the course of several El Diario/La Prensa newsroom relocations. A 1992 flood in the El Diario/La Prensa offices on Varick Street, caused by a water main break, also destroyed a significant amount of material.