Remembering Journalist Ruben Salazar Through His Papers

Events

The USC Libraries are home to the papers of the pioneering Mexican-American journalist Ruben Salazar, killed fifty years ago while covering the Chicano Moratorium. Last week, through an online film screening and an editorial collaboration, the libraries and their partners remembered the Los Angeles-based reporter who became one of the Chicano movement's most notable chroniclers.

On August 31, the libraries hosted an online screening of Ruben Salazar: Man in the Middle, a documentary film that draws freely from Salazar's papers, now part of the USC Libraries' Boeckman Center for Iberian and Latin American Studies. Presented by Visions & Voices and co-sponsored by the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, USC Dornsife College, the USC School of Dramatic Arts, and La CASA, the event featured a discussion with director Phillip Rodriguez. Librarian Barbara Robinson, one of the event's organizers, also compiled a list of relevant library resources to help USC students learn more about Salazar and his work.

Lost LA, the libraries' public media collaboration with KCET, also marked the fiftieth anniversary of Salazar's death by publishing an online retrospective by Carribean Fragoza. Titled "Truths Unsilenced: The Life, Death and Legacy of Rubén Salazar," the article features several images from Salazar's papers.

The remembrances of Salazar's life and career are not finished. On March 3, the USC Libraries co-sponsor Inflammatory Literature: The Legacy of American Journalist Ruben Salazar. Presented by Visions & Voices, the event features a short play written by USC professor Oliver Mayer and inspired by materials from the Salazar papers.