Colombia in the 19th Century

In 2014 I was selected as a Jean & Alexander Heard Libraries Dean’s Fellow at Vanderbilt University.

Photo Credit: "Cuadra de la Tercera," in Bogotá

by Antonio Gómez Restrepo.

Bogotá: Luis Tamayo Alvarez, 1918.

As a Fellow, my work with the

J. León Helguera Collection of Colombiana consisted of reviewing and selecting more

than 2,000 pamphlets from 19th century Colombia for digitization. I also created the online exhibit Colombia in the 19th Century to complement the Helguera Collection by offering a set of short essays for a generalist audience with links to selected documents that introduce the reader to central issues that Colombia faced in that century: a weak economy; lack of education; conflicts between state and religion; and poor transportation. Many of these issues echo in the current economic, political and social situation of the country. The selected pamphlets and other relevant documents are also fully searchable in the Helguera database.

Visit the online exhibit Colombia in the 19th Century here.

For open access to the J. León Helguera Collection of Colombiana at the Vanderbilt University Library, click.