University of Houston professor preserves Latino literary heritage

Gabriela Baeza-Ventura, an associate professor of Hispanic Studies at the University of Houston, is committed to preserving Latino and Hispanic culture. As director of Recovering the U.S. Hispanic Literary Heritage, she works to save literary works by Latino authors published from colonial times until 1980. Her efforts extend beyond literature to include artifacts like patches and aprons that tell stories of Latino history.

Baeza-Ventura shared an example of her work: “We were entrusted with a Bible from State Representative Christina Morales. It was the Bible her grandmother kept at her bedside,” she said. “In it, her grandmother put important documents and things from different events she attended, so we found invitations, photographs, death cards and newspaper clippings.”

In addition to recovering historical artifacts, Baeza-Ventura serves as deputy director of Arte Público Press, a publisher affiliated with the University of Houston that focuses on works by Latino and Hispanic authors. By next year, she will take over as director from Dr. Nicolas Kanellos, who founded the organization in 1979.

Her upcoming role will involve continuing recovery work through a digitization strategy to make recovered works and 3D scans widely accessible. She emphasized the importance of visibility for these works: “People often refer to Arte Público as Houston’s best-kept secret, and that’s really hurtful,” she said. “The last thing you want tied to a book is for it to be a secret.”

Baeza-Ventura added, “For a long time, Latinos didn’t have a space in museums or special collections. We want to make sure there’s a place for them.”

Arte Público Press also organizes an annual recovery conference for archivists, librarians, linguists, historians and others involved in preserving Latino heritage. The event highlights aspects of Latino culture but details for next year’s conference are yet to be announced.