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2019 Dan C. Hazen SALALM Fellowship Award Winners

The Dan C. Hazen SALALM Fellowship is pleased...

The Dan C. Hazen SALALM Fellowship is pleased to announce support for two projects for this cycle:

Antonio Sotomayor, “The Havana YMCA: Exploring the Kautz Family YMCA Archives”

From his proposal: This research project seeks to investigate the papers of the Havana YMCA, which cover the first three decades of the twentieth century, and are currently held at the Kautz Family Archives at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. In official alliance with the invading US Army and Navy during the 1898 Spanish-American War, the “Army and Navy YMCA” arrived to Havana in order to provide support to the US troops and to establish its institution among Cuban civil society. Their aim, more than today's support of sport and physical fitness, was to proselytize and convert the Cuban mainly catholic population to Protestantism, and in so doing directly aid the US's imperial agendas. Mission work was the YMCA's main goal not only in Cuba, but also throughout the world during the late nineteenth century and early twentieth.

Víctor Torres, “Biography of Puerto Rican musical legend Johnny Rodríguez”

From his proposal: Caribbean popular culture, particularly music and film, are currently a focus of interest among academic scholars as well as an attractive genre for the general public. Biographies provide a vital source of historic information on social contexts and society of the times as well as a narrative study of the life of the individual. I'm currently embarking on my third biography of a Puerto Rican popular culture icon, the musical legend Johnny Rodríguez. Currently there is no full-length biography of this important singer, song-writer and performer.

Víctor will conduct research in the collections of the NYPL Performing Arts Library and the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College in New York City.

Congrats to Antonio and Víctor!
Lisa Gardinier and Jana Krentz, co-chairs

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