California Ethnic and Multicultural Archives facts for kids

Quick facts for kids California Ethnic and Multicultural Archives
Davidson Library, UCSB campus
Country	USA
Type	Archives
Established	1988
Location	Santa Barbara, California
Coordinates	34°24′51″N 119°50′35″W / 34.4141443694186°N 119.84301301265224°W / 34.4141443694186; -119.84301301265224
Website	https://www.library.ucsb.edu/

The California Ethnic and Multicultural Archives (CEMA) is a special place that keeps important historical documents. These documents tell the stories of different ethnic groups in California. CEMA collects things like old letters, photos, newspaper clippings, art, and recordings. These items are kept safe at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) Library. People who are studying history can look at these items to learn about the past. Some of these documents are also being put online so more people can see them.

How CEMA Started

CEMA was created in 1988 by two librarians from UCSB, Joseph A. Boissé and Salvador Güereña. The library already had many books and materials about Chicano studies. They realized they needed a special place to keep original historical items, like old posters from the Chicano art movement. These items were moved to a special part of the library.

Salvador Güereña quickly started collecting more historical materials. Today, CEMA holds over 100 collections. These collections come from the four main ethnic groups in California. These groups are Latinos, Asian Americans, African Americans, and Native Americans. Most of the collections are about Mexican Americans.

Cool Projects at CEMA

In 2001, CEMA was chosen to be part of a big online project. This project is called the Online Archive of California. It helps make historical documents available on the internet. CEMA provided digital pictures of Chicano art from its large photo collections. This was part of a national project called American Memory. The goal of American Memory is to save and share important documents from American history. Since then, CEMA has shared over 7,000 digital images for this project.

What CEMA Collects

CEMA's collections include historical records from different groups and individuals. These records come from art groups, political groups, and professional groups. They also have the personal papers of artists, musicians, activists, and writers. Many of these people were involved in important movements. These include the Chicano Movement, the anti-war movement, and the civil rights movement.

Here are some of the notable collections:

Organizations

Individuals