Researching Hispanic Culture

September 19, 2013 — CORAL GABLES, Fla. — The glass exhibition case, at hip level as you enter the lobby of the Richter Library on the Coral Gables campus, beckons. On display: popular graphic novels, a collection of books whose Hispanic authors write about their experiences in America, and a memoir by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who in February sat down with University of Miami President Donna E. Shalala at the BankUnited Center to discuss her life and her new book, My Beloved World . More glass exhibition cases are on display on the first and second floor at Richter, showcasing an eclectic collection of art, music, movies and history dedicated to the influence Hispanics have had on American society and pop culture. A celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month , which runs through October 15, the exhibit draws from collections throughout University Libraries, including albums and CDs from the Marta and Austin Weeks Music Library, Special Collections, and the extensive Cuban Heritage Collection. "We want students, faculty and the University community to be aware of the materials we have related to Hispanic heritage," said Natalie Baur, the exhibition's team leader and an archivist with the Cuban Heritage Collection. "We wanted to bring those materials out and let those materials be discovered." There are the papers from Lydia Cabrera, who explored the unique Afro-Cuban culture in Cuba, and books from Juan Ramon Jimenez, who was awarded a Nobel Prize in Literature in 1956 and lectured at UM from 1940-42.