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El Museo del Barrio Explores History of Spanish-Speaking New Yorkers

Before it was “New York”, it may have been "Nueva York". That’s the name of a new exhibit at El Museo del Barrio that explores the history of Spanish-speaking people in New York City.

The exhibit uncovers ties between New York and Latin America that pre-date European settlements, starting with a Dominican man, Juan Rodriguez, who became Manhattan’s first recorded Hispanic resident in 1612. That’s one year before the Dutch settled the island.

The exhibit, which runs until Jan. 9, features almost 200 objects, including rare maps, letters, paintings, photos, books and announcements.

Teatro Hispano
Teatro Hispano (San Antonio Conservation Society Foundation, La Chata Noloesca Collection. )
A new & correct map of the trading part of the West Indies: including the seat of war between Gr. Britain and Spain, by Henry Overton, 1741.
A new & correct map of the trading part of the West Indies: including the seat of war between Gr. Britain and Spain, by Henry Overton, 1741. (New York Public Library, The Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal Map Division. )
Cayambe, ca. 1858. By Frederic Edwin Church, Oil on canvas.
Cayambe, ca. 1858. By Frederic Edwin Church, Oil on canvas. (New- York Historical Society, The Robert L. Stuart Collection.)
“The Duty of the Hour: to Save Her [Cuba] Not Only from Spain but from a worst Fate [Anarchy] Puck”, New York, 1898.
“The Duty of the Hour: to Save Her [Cuba] Not Only from Spain but from a worst Fate [Anarchy] Puck”, New York, 1898. (New-York Historical Society)
Fordham Rose Hill Baseball Club, 1875.
Fordham Rose Hill Baseball Club, 1875. (Archives and Special Collections, Fordham University Library, Bronx, New York.)
Pura Belpre telling Puerto Rican Folktales
Pura Belpre telling Puerto Rican Folktales (Archives of the Puerto-Rican Diaspora. Centro de Estudios Puertorriqueños, Hunter College, CUNY. )
Twenty Centuries of Mexican Art at the Museum of Modern Art, 1940. Watercolor. By Miguel Covarrubias (1904-1957)
Twenty Centuries of Mexican Art at the Museum of Modern Art, 1940. Watercolor. By Miguel Covarrubias (1904-1957) (Courtesy of Yale University Art Gallery, Gift of Sra. Rosa R. de Covarrubias.)
New York Docks, 1920. Oil and gouache on cardboard. By Joaquín Torres-García (Uruguay, 1874–1949)
New York Docks, 1920. Oil and gouache on cardboard. By Joaquín Torres-García (Uruguay, 1874–1949) (Yale University Art Gallery, Gift of Collection Société Anonyme. © 2010 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VEGAP, Madrid. )
The Subway, 1928. Oil on canvas. By José Clemente Orozco (Mexico, 1883–1949)
The Subway, 1928. Oil on canvas. By José Clemente Orozco (Mexico, 1883–1949)

Part of Nueva York (1613 – 1945), a collaboration of The New York Historical Society and El Museo del Barrio on view from September 17, 2010, through January 9, 2011.

(Museum of Modern Art, Gift of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller. © 2010 Artists Right Society (ARS), New York / SOMAAP, Mexico City. )
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