Guide to the Caribbean Folk Art Collection 1994-1995 MG 1648

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Descriptive Summary

Historical Note:

Scope and Content Note

Access Points

Related Material

Administrative Information

Container List

Caribbean Folk Art Photographs

© 2006 All rights reserved.

The New Jersey Historical Society, Publisher

Processed by Douglas Baldwin.

Finding aid encoded by Julia Telonidis.
February 2007. Production of the EAD 2002 version of this finding aid was made possible by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.Finding aid written
in English.

Historical Note:

This collection consists of photographs taken by Tony Valez and Julio Nazario in conjunction with the exhibit entitled “Caribbean
Folk Art in New Jersey” sponsored by the New Jersey Historical Society in collaboration with the Center for Latino Studies
(Rutgers University). his exhibit was on display from April 26, 1995 to May 5, 2006.

Return to the Table of Contents

Scope and Content Note

This collection consists of photographs that represent various cultural aspects of the Caribbean peoples of New Jersey. Specifically,
the photographs depict people, businesses, artwork, craftwork, religious objects, food, and music. The ethnicities represented
include Puerto Rican, Cuban, Dominican, Haitian, and Jamaican. Each folder in the collection represents a different person,
or event, along with objects and materials representative of the culture of their particular heritage.

Also, there are three folders with photographs identifying objects with foreign language words. Folder 14 refers to several
women pictured with items called “capias”. These are in fact the small, decorated corsage items located on the table in the
photographs. Capias are festival mementos which were also sometimes used at weddings in the Spanish speaking Caribbean. In
folder 15, are photographs of a woman with items referred to as “casitas”. This is translated as “small house” or “small bungalow”.
Finally, as a point of reference in regards to folder 17, a “cuartro guitar” is a musical instrument unique to Puerto Rico
and descended from the Spanish classical guitar. The instrument has five sets of double strings. The name for the guitar comes
from an earlier four string version of the instrument.

Return to the Table of Contents

Return to the Table of Contents

Related Material

Manuscript Group 1258, New Jersey Historical Society Archives Photographs, The New Jersey Historical Society.

Manuscript Group 1361, New Jersey Place Photographs and Prints, The New Jersey Historical Society.

Return to the Table of Contents

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

This collection should be cited as: Manuscript Group 1648, Caribbean Folk Art Collection, The New Jersey Historical Society.

Acquisition Information

This collection was created by the New Jersey Historical Society, 1994-1995.

Return to the Table of Contents

Container List

Return to the Top of Page