Jack and Irene Delano papers, circa 1940-1997

Summary Information

At a Glance

Description

Summary

Art--Audio--Book Mock-up--Ephemera--Mixed--Moving Images--Music Scores--Original Papers--Photos--Printed--Sketches and prints for postcards--Art--Memorabilia.

Using the Collection

Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Restrictions on Access

You will need to make an appointment in advance to use this collection material in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room. You can schedule an appointment once you've submitted your request through your Special Collections Research Account.

Closed; materials in active conservation treatment and processing.

This collection is located on-site.

This collection has no restrictions.

Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. The RBML maintains ownership of the physical material only. Copyright remains with the creator and his/her heirs. The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.

Preferred Citation

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Jack and Irene Delano Papers; Box and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.

Related Materials

The Library of Congress holds the Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Black-and-White Negatives, which includes thousands of Jack Delano's photographs: https://www.loc.gov/collections/fsa-owi-black-and-white-negatives/. The Archives of American Art holds an oral history with Jack and Irene: https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-jack-and-irene-delano-13026.

Accruals

Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. Contact rbml@columbia.edu for more information.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

2016.2017.M008. The Delano Papers were on deposit at the Fundación Luis Muñoz Marín Historical Archive. The Jack Delano Estate sold the collection to RBML in March 2017.

About the Finding Aid / Processing Information

Columbia University Libraries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Processing Information

Collection-level record describing unprocessed material made public in summer 2018 as part of the Hidden Collections initiative.

Subject Headings

The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches at Columbia University through the Archival Collections Portal and through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, as well as ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.

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Genre/Form

Subject

History / Biographical Note

Biographical / Historical

Jack Delano (1914-1997) was a photographer, composer, filmmaker, and illustrator whose work celebrated Puerto Rican culture. He first visited the island in 1941 as a photographer working with the Farm Security Administration (FSA) to document the impoverished conditions in which many of the island's people lived. He moved to Puerto Rico permanently with his wife, Irene, in 1946.

The bulk of Jack Delano's photography takes Puerto Rico as its subject. Exceptions include photographs of the United States mainland created for the FSA in the early 1940s, and photographs of Japan, India, Italy, and France created in 1960-1961 for a UNESCO fellowship.

From 1949-1953, Jack Delano served as director of the Division of Community Education (DIVEDCO), a program created by the administration of governor Luis Muñoz-Marín to help educate and promote civic engagement among Puerto Rico's rural poor. He also served on a special committee to investigate educational television in the early 1950s. That committee's work resulted in the creation of Puerto Rico's first public television station, WIPR. Delano was WIPR's general administrator from 1961-1968. Extensive administrative records of DIVEDCO and WIPR are not included in the collection. Instead, Delano's work with both agencies is documented through publications and records personally produced by Jack Delano, as well as his film and television work for WIPR.

Delano's work in film included both documentary and animation. The collection includes materials related to his 1950 documentary Los Peloteros and a planned documentary on Puerto Rico's first newspaper, La Gazeta, as well as the animated films Sabios Árboles, Mágicos Árboles and Los Aguinaldos del Infante. The latter two films were themselves adapted from children's books written and illustrated by Jack and Irene Delano, and were also scored by Jack Delano.

In addition to Sabios Árboles, Mágicos Árboles and Los Aguinaldos del Infante, Jack and Irene Delano wrote and illustrated the bilingual children's book En Busca del Maestro Rafael Cordero/In Search of Maestro Rafael Cordero. They also illustrated an adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's The Emperor's New Clothes by Jean Van Leeuwen, and a translation of The Conquest and Settlement of the Island of Boriquen or Puerto Rico by Daymond Turner. The collection includes materials from these works as well.

In the 1960s, Jack Delano published cartoons in the English language Puerto Rican newspaper The Island Times, using the pen name Joaquín. Original artworks and clippings of these cartoons (as well as some full issues of the newspaper) are present in the collection.

Jack Delano composed music for film, ballet, and television, as well as standalone works for orchestra, chamber groups, voice, and chorus. His musical works drew heavily from Puerto Rican folk music traditions. Many were produced by the Ballet de San Juan and the Puerto Rico Symphony Orchestra (and in turn photographed by Jack Delano). The collection includes scores, recordings, and photographs and programs from performances of Delano's musical works—as well as Delano's violin.