LATIN AMERICAN RESEARCH AND SERVICE AGENCY (LARASA) RECORDS

Agendas, meeting minutes, correspondence, reports, notes and articles comprise the bulk of the collection. The papers range from 1958 to 2004 with the bulk of the documents dating from 1985. Internal communications include email and memos exchanged by the staff. Sample articles and reports constitute the research series with many LARASA-produced reports and newsletters.

The bulk of the series ranges from 1992 to 2004. Annual reports, agendas, correspondence, membership lists and meeting minutes comprise this series. Arranged chronologically, the papers reveal changes in people, methods, areas of focus and level of involvement over time. Several years of correspondence document LARASA's review of potential board members, with the expectations of fund-raising skills and a high level of commitment and attention to the Hispanic community's problems.

Documents in this series reveal LARASA's administrative functions. Agendas and minutes of staff meetings disclose major issues discussed. Job descriptions, calendars, notes, memos and email comprise the bulk of the series. Papers relating to personnel, equipment and facilities are included. Arranged chronologically, this series also demonstrates changes in the operation and personnel.

While maintaining its partnership with Mile High United Way, LARASA sought grants, carried out membership drives and conducted an annual fund-raising dinner known as the Bernie Valdez Award Luncheon. Audits, financial statements, lists of grants and lists of organizations from which LARASA sought funding comprise this series. The chronological arrangement of the bulk of the papers reveal how the financial support for LARASA changed from its beginnings in 1964 to 2004. Folders containing papers for organizations from which LARASA sought aid are arranged alphabetically demonstrating the breadth of its efforts.

This series contains papers for LARASA services for the Hispanic population throughout Denver and Colorado. Correspondence, flyers, notes and other documents address issues such as health, education, housing and cultural competency. Reports include statistical information on causes and possible solutions for problems like the high dropout rate of Denver Hispanics. Reports also document practical projects aimed at improving the quality of life with school supplies for children, nutrition for diabetic family members, encouraging seat belt usage and encouraging women of child-bearing age to take folic acid supplements to prevent birth defects. In more recent years, papers show that cultural competency training became a major component of LARASA's activities.

Papers from organizations, corporations and governmental agencies comprise this series. The organizations (mostly nonprofit) vary from those with similar goals such as the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) to those centered upon topics of special interest to LARASA such as the American Diabetes Association. Several organizations in this category provided grants to LARASA over the years. The papers in this series are arranged alphabetically by the name of the organization or agency.

This series contains sample articles, reports and other documents relating to areas of interest for LARASA. Saved and collected by various staff members over the years, the papers encompass health, education, historical and political information. Arranged first alphabetically by broad topic and then chronologically, the papers provide background information for LARASA staff to answer reference questions, to write reports and to provide background information for grant proposals.

The publication series contains a broad array of topics produced by LARASA for a number of audiences. Newsletters, reports, and special topical reports are included. In addition, the series includes forms from which orders were placed for the multitude of items produced to further Latino understanding of issues and demographics. A series of reports called Latinos in Colorado covered several topics over a period of years. Legislative reports were another aspect of their publications. Issue tracking and research were dominant themes.

Several audiocassette recordings of focus groups on breast cancer and Hepatitis C are part of this series, with CD-ROMs on breast cancer, AIDS and Folic Acid, and two 3.5" floppy discs with files formatted for Macintosh/Apple operating systems comprising the balance.

This series contains color photographs and negatives that relate to staff, events, meetings and activities held by LARASA.

The series contains unprocessged material added to collection.

Including former WHG-Hybrid collection: Miscellaneous Hispanic and Western Newspaper and Periodical Collection containing newspapers, magazines, newsletters, and clippings from the LARASA (Latin American Research and Service Agency) collection consist mostly of Latin American [Chicano, Aztlan, Native American, Cuba] subjects and Democratic, Progressive, or Socialist politics. Some Asian, African and Native American items are included; women's and environmental subjects are also represented. There are a number of Colorado underground papers, 'zines, and a few markedly radical and/or pictorial items. There are also publications of various Colorado departments: education, police, energy, and Glenwood Canyon development. The some 250 titles are mostly single-date issues, with some multiple editions. Box 83 contains Hispanic American newspapers, Box 84 contains newspapers related to specific social or political issues, and Box 85 includes a variety of newsletters and journals. Print index available in each box and in WHG "reference files" folder.