CENTRO: Centro Oral History Project/Latino Educational Media Center

The Centro Oral History Project/Latino Educational Media Center (COHP/LEMC) project ran from 2003-2008 and was focused on capturing oral history interviews from members of the Puerto Rican community who participated in institution building during the 1950s to 1970s in New York City. The collection highlights the formation of organizations such as the Puerto Rican Bar Association, Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund (PRLDEF), and Puerto Rican Association of Community Affairs (PRACA). It also contains several interviews with people who worked for the Puerto Rican government in the Migration Division offices in New York City, as well as people involved in numerous political and activist groups such as The Young Lords, El Comite, and Partido Socialista Puertorriqueños (PSP).

The project was led by Lillian Jiménez, a media arts center manager, independent producer, media activist, exhibitor, funder and educator. She was the head of the Latino Educational Media Center, a nonprofit that produces and distributes educational media on issues by and about the diverse and complex Latino communities in the US.