Over the last three decades, Arlington’s Latino community has rapidly grown and stockpiled a wealth of history.
And this week, librarians and historians at the are asking for donations of documents to archive the county鈥檚 Hispanic history.
The project is called Re-Encuentro de Arlington Latinos.
鈥淭his is the perfect time to start collecting that material,鈥� said Judy Knudsen, the Center for Local History’s manager. 鈥淭he organizations that were helping immigrants in a new country are 20 years old, and they have a substantive amount of work now.鈥�
Archivists are calling for photographs; minutes from meetings; and financial documents from Hispanic community groups, civic organizations, churches and residents, said library spokesman Henrik Sundqvist.
The group is also kicking off the effort with a community celebration on Saturday from 2 to 5 p.m. in the Barbara M. Donnellan Auditorium at Central Library. Historians will collect some items during the event, Knudsen said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 their minutes; it鈥檚 their flyers,鈥� she said. 鈥淎ll these things help to tell what they were interested in and what they accomplished.鈥�
Arlington’s Hispanic population greatly expanded from 1990 to 2000 — increasing by nearly 53%. Now, they make up almost 16% of the county, Sundqvist said.
鈥淲e鈥檙e really celebrating our diverse culture and heritage here,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd our Latino community is a big part of who we are and what we will become.鈥�
This is the first phase of a multi-year project that will make an impact on future generations.
鈥淲e want people to be interested in making sure we continue to get this material,鈥� Knudsen said. 鈥淵ears to come, a historian who comes in and wants to learn about Arlington and the Latino community will have the material to do it.鈥�
