THE
ABUELAS
PROJECT
The Abuelas Project, led by Latinos in Heritage Conservation, is the people's archive. Our goal is to protect, amplify and center Latinx stories and history. We use online mapping as a tool
where people can share their own memories, places, and experiences, helping build a people’s record of Latinx heritage.
Prior to The Abuelas Project, no repository existed that allowed for Latinx storytelling. Thus, The Abuelas Project responded to this exclusion by creating our own archive; centered on decolonizing historic preservation. Through the removal of institutional barriers, history belongs to the people who lived in it and must be protected by the people.
“Our stories have been safeguarded by our Abuelas (our grandmothers) and we seek to honor them as our cultural caretakers”
Program Highlights
Community Centric Storytelling: The Abuelas team works alongside community members to preserve memories rooted in place.
Community archive: Year – round submission portal accepting memories tied to place and Latinx history
Place-based Preservation: The Abuelas project uses mapping techniques to preserve the stories gathered.
GUIDELINES
OUR STORYTELLERS
The Abuelas Project invites you to meet our Storytellers through our StoryMap collections! Every single StoryMap includes multiple documentation methods such as: Archival research, Community Outreach, Oral Histories, Photographs, and more. As the Abuelas project has grown through the years, the focus remains on Storytelling and amplifying Latinx Historic Preservation. GIS is just the tool we use to store and showcase the stories, due to its place-based nature. It is the individuals and their stories that make The Abuelas Project what it is today!
Borderlands
Mapping Raíces Comunales across the borderlands through stories, heritage, and memory.
Route 66
Explore our Texas, New México, Arizona, and California StoryMaps detailing the Latinx experience along Route 66.
Tejanos y Más
Learn more about the legacy of Tejanos in Texas, including braceros, abandoned Mexican cemeteries, and conjunto music here!
SUBMIT YOUR MEMORIES
The Abuelas Project is a community centered platform designed to preserve photographs, oral histories, personal narratives, and documents shared by Latinx communities. It centers storytelling, consent, and contributor agency by allowing comunidad to define the meaning and significance of their own histories. Grounded in place-based and intergenerational memory, the archive honors comunidad as collaborators and stewards of their heritage through the combination of decolonial archival best practices with community-driven metadata. We invite you to submit your memories below! Submissions may be submitted in both English and Spanish.
EXPLORE ABUELAS SUBMISSIONS
OUR PARTNERS
This project has been funded in part by a grant from the Iron Mountain Living Legacy Initiative, The 1772 Foundation, Fondren Preservation Services Fund for Texas of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, The Mellon Foundation, and the Cultural and Community Resilience Grant on behalf of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).
