ODN Item of the Week: LiRA

Thanks to the work of Kenyon College and the Latinx communities of Knox County, DPLA users are able to gain insight and learn from the perspectives of the Latin American experience in rural America, specifically in Knox County.

Latinos in Rural America (LiRA) “is a public humanities project designed to broaden knowledge, engagement and understanding of the Latino/a experience in rural Ohio.” The exhibit is divided into 10 parts that explore many aspects of family, economics, and day to day life in the area. It traveled around the state extensively in 2016, but we are also able to view parts of it online at DPLA.

José Ávalos, the owner of Mount Vernon restaurant Fiesta Mexicana, emigrated to the United States in his youth but has returned to Mexico several times since then. He brought his children back for a few years to ensure their connectedness to their Mexican heritage. José Ávalos, dueño del restaurant Fiesta Mexicana de Mount Vernon, inmigró a los Estados Unidos en su juventud pero regresó a México varias veces desde entonces. Llevó a sus hijos de vuelta por unos años para asegurarse que mantendrían su conexión con su herencia mexicana.
Courtesy Kenyon College

The contributions of both immigrant communities in Ohio and the Kenyon College Library are a vital component of what makes Ohio, and America, a vibrant and rich place in the world, and this project is a great reminder of that fact.