Library of Congress Acquires Major Photography and Manuscript Collection Documenting the Chicano Movement
Collection Includes 17,500 Photos by Journalist Raúl Ruiz with Accompanying Manuscripts and Periodicals
The Library of Congress has acquired the photographs, manuscripts and periodical collection of Raúl Ruiz, a leading figure in the Chicano Movement in Los Angeles beginning in the 1960s.
Ruiz (1940-2019) was an activist, journalist, photographer, educator and political candidate who advocated for the rights of Mexican Americans. Ruiz was perhaps best known as the editor of La Raza newspaper and magazine, groundbreaking periodicals that covered the East LA Walkouts in 1968, the Chicano Moratorium during the Vietnam War and other issues of interest to the Chicano community.
The Raúl Ruiz Chicano Movement Collection contains an estimated 17,500 photos by Ruiz (prints, negatives, contact sheets and transparencies) and original page layouts for La Raza newspaper and magazine. It also offers nearly 10,000 pages of manuscripts, which include original correspondence, the unpublished draft of Ruiz’s book on Los Angeles Times journalist Ruben Salazar, and handwritten minutes from the staff meetings of La Raza. In addition, the collection includes published issues of La Raza newspaper and magazine, select issues of other Chicano periodicals and video and audio recordings.
“The Ruiz collection speaks to the heart of the Chicano Movement and will be an important resource for the study of journalism and Latino history and culture at the Library of Congress,” said Adam Silvia, curator of photography in the Prints & Photographs Division.
The collection was donated to the Library by Ruiz’s daughter, Marcela Ponce, and one of his close friends, Marta E. Sánchez, professor of teaching and learning at Loyola Marymount University.
Highlights of the collection include:
- A contact sheet and two of the corresponding negatives depicting the daily activities of Ruiz as editor of La Raza.
- Photographs documenting Chicano protests in Los Angeles for La Raza newspaper and magazine in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
- A photograph of journalists and protesters riding in the back of a pickup truck while covering a Chicano Movement protest ca. 1968-1975.
- One of Ruiz’s iconic photographs of the scene where journalist Rubén Salazar was struck by a round of tear gas fired by a member of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department during a protest against the Vietnam War.
- One of the handmade page layouts for the first issue of La Raza magazine in 1970 covering Católicos por La Raza, a movement of Chicano Catholic student activists in Los Angeles.
- Photo of the late César Chávez carrying a boycott sign during a protest. Chávez, a friend of Ruiz’s, was co-founder of the United Farm Workers union.
The collection is available to researchers by appointment; photographs are housed in the Prints & Photographs Reading Room, while the manuscripts are in the Manuscript Reading Room and the periodicals in the Newspaper & Current Periodical Reading Room. The Prints & Photographs Division has digitized a selection of photographs from the collection, which users can preview in the Library’s online catalog in the coming weeks.
The Library of Congress is the world’s largest library, offering access to the creative record of the United States — and extensive materials from around the world — both on-site and online. It is the main research arm of the U.S. Congress and the home of the U.S. Copyright Office. Explore collections, reference services and other programs and plan a visit at loc.gov, access the official site for U.S. federal legislative information at congress.gov and register creative works of authorship at copyright.gov.
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Media Contact: Maria Peña, mpena@loc.gov
PR 25-030
05/08/2025
ISSN 0731-3527
