Luz Marina Rodriguez Papers, 1945-2006

Periodic additions to this collection are expected.

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Biographical Note

Luz Marina Rodriguez was born in New York City on March 7, 1956, and grew up on the Lower East Side. She was the eldest of three children of Elsa Rodriguez Vazquez and Luis Rodriguez Nieto, Sr., who had both recently emigrated from Puerto Rico as part of Operation Bootstrap, a government economic investment into the Puerto Rican economy. Her father held a variety of jobs, including electronics repair and night security work, while her mother sold Avon products.

After graduating from Seward Park High School in 1974, Rodriguez spent two years immersed in social and cultural activities in her Puerto Rican neighborhood, which became known as Loisaida (a Latino pronunciation of the Lower East Side). She was deeply involved in The Real Great Society, a gang outreach and community empowerment organization created in 1964 to engage youth in addressing local needs, especially sweat equity projects to create affordable housing. She was also an active participant in Charas/El Bohio, a cultural center where she taught Puerto Rican folkloric dance.

After studying dance at Pratt Institute, Rodriguez graduated from New York University as a dance therapy major in 1982. College research into the sterilization of, and birth control experimentation on, Puerto Rican women planted the seed of later reproductive rights activism.

Rodriguez defines herself as a servant-leader. She has continued to combine grassroots social justice work with administrative leadership in non-profit organizations, including Henry Street Settlement, East Side Family Resource Center, Dominican Women's Development Center, and Casa Atabex. In 1996 she became Executive Director of the Latina Roundtable on Health and Reproductive Rights and played a critical role in the formation of the SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Health Collective. In 2011, she become co-chair of the Management Circle of that organization. A specialist in organizational development and non-profit sustainability, Rodriguez currently serves as bilingual training coordinator at the New York City headquarters of the Foundation Center.

In 1994 in recognition for her advocacy work, Rodriguez was awarded a Windcall Residency, a retreat program for those who work for social justice. She is a published poet, playwright, aspiring sculptor, and she remains active in SisterSong. She was married to Norbeto Cruz and later divorced. She has two sons, Gabriel and Abran-Lumi, a step-son, a foster daughter, a kinship foster child, and four grandchildren.

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Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Luz Marina Rodriguez Papers contain 8.5 linear feet of organization, conference, and symposia materials; appointment books; writings; educational records; correspondence; photographs; and memorabilia. The papers are particularly strong in documenting her many professional activities, especially her activism in health and education for women of color, including SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Health Collective and the Latina Roundtable on Health and Reproductive Rights. In addition they document her activities on behalf of Hispanics in New York City such as Baile Boricua Dance Company, Charas, and Dominican Womens' Development Center; as well as other neighborhood, educational, family-oriented, and health-related organizations and initiatives. There are also family materials, New York University course work and student papers, early correspondence, speeches, and writings.

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Organization of the Collection

This collection is organized into seven series:

• I. BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS (1974-2003)
• II. CORRESPONDENCE (1968-1970)
• III. SPEECHES AND WRITINGS (1986-97)
• IV. PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES (1973-06)
• V. SUBJECT FILES (1974-1998)
• VI. PHOTOGRAPHS AND MEMORABILIA (1945-2005)
• VII. AUDIOVISUAL MATERIALS (1997-1999)

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SERIES I. BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS (1974-2003) 2 linear ft.

This series is arranged alphabetically and contains address books; calendars; day planners; family material related to her foster child, Tanya Vasquez, and sons Gabriel and Abran; financial material related to two court cases, an accident claim, and medical bills. There are student papers, course work, grades, and financial information from New York University.

SERIES II. CORRESPONDENCE (1968-1970) 1 linear inch

This series is arranged chronologically and consists primarily of letters from childhood friends.

SERIES III. SPEECHES AND WRITINGS (1986-97) 1.5 linear inches

This series contains speeches, public testimony and writings. The writings are arranged alphabetically and consist of notes; a poem, "El Yunque"; a play, "Ghost Writer"; and an essay, "Seven Days to Life". There is a compact disc of Rodriguez reading her work in SERIES VII. AUDIO VISUAL MATERIALS.

SERIES IV. PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES (1973-06) 2.25 linear ft.

This series is arranged alphabetically and contains material related to more than twenty-one organizations in which Rodriguez was involved. The bulk of the series relates to Baile Boricua Dance Company, Charas, Latina Roundtable on Health and Reproductive Rights, and SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Health Collective. The Baile Boricua Dance Company (a group devoted to folkloric dance of the Puerto Rican and Afro-Caribbean culture) contains articles and clippings, board of directors' materials, correspondence, notes, and performances. Charas (a grassroots community serving the Latina section of the New York Lower East Side) includes material about its founder Amando Perez, anniversaries, bylaws, El Bohio Community Center, financial materials, Loisada neighborhood materials, board of directors' meetings, programs, activities, and strategic plans. The Latina Roundtable on Health and Reproductive Rights consists primarily of board of director and financial materials. The financial materials include information on a Ford Foundation grant received in collaboration with SisterSong and the resulting symposiums on reproductive health and women of color. SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Health Collective contains additional information on the Ford Foundation grant, meetings, national conferences, and miscellaneous programs. It also contains information on Moon Lodge and other collective members. Since Latina Roundtable on Health and Reproductive Rights is part of the SisterSong collective, some materials overlap.

SERIES V. SUBJECT FILES (1974-1998) .25 linear ft

This series is arranged alphabetically and contains information on fourteen subjects. Of particular interest are materials on Hispanic art and a conference on women's alcohol and drug education.

SERIES VI. PHOTOGRAPHS AND MEMORABILIA (1945-2005) .75 linear ft.

This series consists two subseries Photographs and Memorabilia. The Photographs subseries contains family and personal pictures, photographs of a 1998 SisterSong symposium, plus several unidentified photographs. Most of the photographs have been transferred onto two compact discs which are included in this series. The master compact disc is located in SERIES VII. AUDIOVISUAL MATERIALS. Memorabilia includes certificates, school items, and artifacts which include an address book and childhood diary, a book bag, buttons, business cards, name badges, and unidentified and miscellaneous items.

SERIES VII. AUDIOVISUAL MATERIALS (1997-1999) 3 linear ft.

This series is divided into two subseries: Use copies and Preservation Masters and originals. The Use copies subseries contains twenty-eight digital video discs and a compact disc of an interview with Rodriguez about the Foundation Center, information on the International Congress on AIDS in Manila, Latina Roundtable on Health and Reproductive Rights Symposium, SisterSong, and Rodriguez reading from her work. Use copies are available for all the audio-visual materials. Preservation masters and originals are closed to research.

SERIES I. BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS

SERIES II. CORRRESPONDENCE

SERIES III. SPEECHES AND WRITINGS

SERIES IV. PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

SERIES V. SUBJECT FILES

SERIES VI. PHOTOGRAPHS AND MEMORABILIA

SERIES VII. AUDIOVISUAL MATERIALS