Latino Cultural Center’s 50-year anniversary and archival project
Introduction
Call to Action: To support the 50-Year Archival Project, you can donate at go.uic.edu/LCC50.
Fifty years ago, the Latino Cultural Center emerged as the first cultural center at UIC to support the growing population of Latine students. It established itself as an essential campus resource committed to helping students build a sense of belonging and reach their graduation milestone.
Five decades later, the center is known as a reservoir of cultural knowledge, artistic practices, campus advocacy and community partnerships, where the tenets of social and environmental justice are firmly upheld.
Rosa Cabrera, executive director of the Latino Cultural Center, shared that “stepping into the future, the LCC will remain steadfast to its commitments with a renewed urgency to preserve five decades of community memory by launching its 50-Year Archival Project.”
A celebration will be held from 4-7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 23, at the Latino Cultural Center, Lecture Center B2. Celebratory remarks and a toast are scheduled for 5 pm.
The Latino Cultural Center is housed under the UIC Office for Engagement and is part of the Centers for Cultural Understanding and Social Change. It features prominent artistic and educational resources, including Chicago’s largest contemporary indoor mural, “El Despertar de las Américas,” and offers many intersectional programs, including the UIC Heritage Garden, a signature program of the Centers for Cultural Understanding and Social Change.
LCC 50
Help us Digitize 50 Years of Latine History at UIC!
In celebration of our 50th birthday, the Latino Cultural Center is launching a fundraising campaign to preserve our community’s rich history by transforming thirty office-bound themed binders into a public digital archive.
Why This Project Matters
Archival records serve to safeguard our collective memory for future generations to build on what came before and strengthen accuracy, accountability, and cultural identity. Establishing a digital archive with broader accessibility will ensure that anyone, anywhere, can explore our historic records and that institutional knowledge is preserved to inform future decisions to support Latine students at UIC.
How Your Donation Will Be Used
All funds raised through this campaign will be used to hire three UIC students over the next year to assist the LCC staff team in scanning, organizing, and publishing our treasured archive online as well as the necessary tools to complete this work.