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Archivo Histórico de Ponce
Archivo Histórico de Ponce
Current location of Archivo Histórico de Ponce at the grid formed by Calles Guadalupe, Salud, Estrella, and Mayor
18°00′57″N 66°36′44″W / 18.01575°N 66.61216°W / 18.01575; -66.61216
Location	Ponce Servicios, Ponce, Puerto Rico
Type	Government Archive
Established	1812
Service area	Puerto Rico as well as researchers from other countries
Collection
Items collected	Letters, maps, brochures, photos, newspaper clippings, newspapers, microfilms, cancelled municipal payroll checks, municipal employee files, books. Also registry of slaves, architectural plans, films, and sound tracks.
Size	Over 1 million items indexed in more than 300,000 files
Criteria for collection	City government documents about the founding, history and evolution of Ponce from the 1812 Municipal Assembly until the present
Access and use
Access requirements	Historian, university professor, legislator, and researcher
Circulation	0
Population served	Historians, legislators, university professors, and researchers
Members	18,000
Other information
Director	Gladys Esther Tormes Gonzalez
Employees	32
Website	http://ponce.inter.edu/cai/connections/html/archivo.html

Archivo Histórico de Ponce, officially, Archivo Histórico de Ponce Gladys E. Tormes González, is a historical archive in Ponce, Puerto Rico. It is considered "the most complete historical archive in Puerto Rico".

History

As early as 1882, there already existed an Office at the Ponce City Hall, called "Archivo de la Secretaria del Municipio de Ponce", charged as custodian of such records. The first two archivists were Dimas Gilas and Enrique León. The idea of conserving the documented patrimony of the city in a systematic fashion took shape during the administration of Mayor Grillasca in the 1940s but the Archive itself existed long before that. In 1973, Mayor Luis A. Morales revived the project almost immediately after he took office, consulting with the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña regarding its future. Agreeing that the facilities available at City Hall were not adequate to hold such a growing collection, on 19 June 1975 Mayor Morales moved the Archivo to a space next to Teatro La Perla that had just been vacated by the municipal library. In 1995, the Archivo was moved again, this time to Calle Marina, across from Plaza Degetau, at the location where the former Felipe Garcia store was. This move to the former location of the Felipe Garcia store was intended as a temporary location until the new building for the Archivo was completed at the former location of the Puerto Rico District Court building on Bulevar Miguel Pou. However, upon completion of the new building in 2007, only the Ponce Public Library occupied the new building, and the Archivo remained at the former Felipe Garcia location. In 2013, the Archivo moved to its current location at the Ponce Servicios building.

Contents

The Archivo Histórico de Ponce comprises all the documentation generated by the agencies of the municipality of Ponce as well as donations by private citizens. It also contains documentation about other municipalities in Puerto Rico. Archivo Histórico has some 100 million archived documents. Among these are letters, maps, brochures, photos, newspaper clippings, full newspaper samples, microfilms, cancelled municipal payroll checks, municipal employee files, books, and other similar documents. These are archived in some 300,000 files. They are archived under the card catalog system. Other documents kept there are an entire registry of slaves, architectural plans, films, soundtracks, and newspapers dating to 1874, as well as city government documents about the founding, history, and evolution of Ponce from the 1812 Municipal Assembly until the present.

Operational structure

It operates in a physically and organizationally centralized fashion. The building has some 19,700 square feet of space and is distributed over three levels. Archivo Histórico has 32 employees. Among its employees are 12 professional archivists.

Patrons

Archivo Histórico receives over 18,000 visitors every year, including historians, university professors, legislators, and researchers from Puerto Rico and abroad.

Location

The Archivo has been located in different headquarters over the years. It was originally located at the Ponce City Hall. During the mayoral administration of Luis A. Morales (1973–1976), it was moved to the second floor of Teatro La Perla on 19 June 1975. It subsequently moved to Calle Marina across from Plaza Las Delicias in the facility that for many years held the Felipe Garcia department store. Around 2014 it moved to the Ponce Servicios building, where it remains today (2018). On August of 2023, it was moved to the street Regimiento 65 de Infantería, just across the Ponce Servicios building as a result of the 2020 Earthquakes in southern Puerto Rico.

Head archivists

This is a chronological listing of the head archivists of Archivo Historico de Ponce:

• Dimas Gila (? – 20 December 1882)
• Enrique León (20 December 1882 – 24 January 1890)
• Ramón Dapena (24 January 1890 – ??)
• Carlos Giorgetti and Ulises Olivieri ( ?? – 16 June 1915)
• Ernesto Esbri Roubert (16 June 1915 – ??)
• Antonio Mirabal ( ?? – 1966)
• Billy Fourquet (1966–1967)
• Leopoldo Ruíz (1968–1973)
• Acasio Torres (1973–74)
• Gladys E. Tormes (15 April 1974 – incumbent)

See also

• Ponce, Puerto Rico
• List of people from Ponce, Puerto Rico
• List of libraries in Ponce, Puerto Rico

References

1. Protectora de 200 años de historia. Carmen Cila Rodríguez. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 30 January 2013. Retrieved 31 January 2013. Weblink updated 13 February 2018.
2. Protectora de 200 años de historia. Carmen Cila Rodríguez. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 30 January 2013. Accessed 13 February 2018.
3. Gladys Tormes: Mil y una historias. Periodico Es Noticia. Issues 202. 11 to 24 August 2023. Page 21. Archived.
4. Protectora de 200 años de historia. Carmen Cila Rodríguez. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 30 January 2013. Retrieved 31 January 2013. Weblink updated 13 February 2018. Archived.
5. Carmelo Rosario Natal. Ponce En Su Historia Moderna: 1945–2002. Published by Secretaría de Cultura y Turismo of the Government of the Autonomous Municipality of Ponce. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 2003. p. 359-360.
6. Carmelo Rosario Natal. Ponce En Su Historia Moderna: 1945–2002. Published by Secretaría de Cultura y Turismo of the Government of the Autonomous Municipality of Ponce. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 2003. p. 79.
7. Carmelo Rosario Natal. Ponce En Su Historia Moderna: 1945–2002. Published by Secretaría de Cultura y Turismo of the Government of the Autonomous Municipality of Ponce. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 2003. p. 79.
8. Los Archivos Historicos de Puerto Rico: Archivo Histórico Municipal de Ponce. Accessed 19 January 2019.
9. Carmelo Rosario Natal. Ponce En Su Historia Moderna: 1945–2002. Published by Secretaría de Cultura y Turismo of the Government of the Autonomous Municipality of Ponce. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 2003. p. 79.
10. Carmelo Rosario Natal. Ponce En Su Historia Moderna: 1945–2002. Published by Secretaría de Cultura y Turismo of the Government of the Autonomous Municipality of Ponce. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 2003. p. 146.
11. Carmelo Rosario Natal. Ponce En Su Historia Moderna: 1945–2002. Published by Secretaría de Cultura y Turismo of the Government of the Autonomous Municipality of Ponce. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 2003. p. 350.
12. Carmelo Rosario Natal. Ponce En Su Historia Moderna: 1945–2002. Published by Secretaría de Cultura y Turismo of the Government of the Autonomous Municipality of Ponce. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 2003. p. 341.
13. Alcaldesa de Ponce Inagura Proyecto Emblematico Ponce Servicios. Archived 6 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine Ronaldo Ortiz Dominicci. Periodico "El Señorial". (A publication of the Ponce Municipal Government.) Issue #10. August 2013. Page 3. Retrieved 4 October 2013.
14. Entrevista a Lcda. Gladys Tormes, Directora del Archivo Histórico Municipal de Ponce. José R. Oliveras Vélez. Administracion de Recursos de Informacion. 17 May 2008. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
15. Entrevista a Lcda. Gladys Tormes, Directora del Archivo Histórico Municipal de Ponce. José R. Oliveras Vélez. Administracion de Recursos de Informacion. 17 May 2008. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
16. Protectora de 200 años de historia. Carmen Cila Rodríguez. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 30 January 2013. Retrieved 31 January 2013. Weblink updated 13 February 2018.
17. Entrevista a Lcda. Gladys Tormes, Directora del Archivo Histórico Municipal de Ponce. José R. Oliveras Vélez. Administracion de Recursos de Informacion. 17 May 2008. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
18. Entrevista a Lcda. Gladys Tormes, Directora del Archivo Histórico Municipal de Ponce. José R. Oliveras Vélez. Administracion de Recursos de Informacion. 17 May 2008. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
19. Protectora de 200 años de historia. Carmen Cila Rodríguez. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 30 January 2013. Retrieved 31 January 2013. Weblink updated 13 February 2018.
20. Protectora de 200 años de historia. Carmen Cila Rodríguez. La Perla del Sur. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 30 January 2013. Retrieved 31 January 2013. Weblink updated 13 February 2018.
21. El Archivo Histórico Municipal del Municipio Autónomo de Ponce, Puerto Rico. Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico. 2002. Accessed 3 February 2018.
22. Carmelo Rosario Natal. Ponce En Su Historia Moderna: 1945–2002. Published by Secretaría de Cultura y Turismo of the Government of the Autonomous Municipality of Ponce. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 2003. p. 146.
23. Carmelo Rosario Natal. Ponce En Su Historia Moderna: 1945–2002. Published by Secretaría de Cultura y Turismo of the Government of the Autonomous Municipality of Ponce. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 2003. p. 350.
24. El Archivo Histórico Municipal del Municipio Autónomo de Ponce, Puerto Rico. Inter-American University of Puerto Rico at Ponce. Accessed 3 February 2018.
25. El Archivo Histórico Municipal del Municipio Autónomo de Ponce, Puerto Rico. Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico. 2002. Accessed 3 February 2018.
26. Carmelo Rosario Natal. Ponce En Su Historia Moderna: 1945–2002. Published by Secretaría de Cultura y Turismo of the Government of the Autonomous Municipality of Ponce. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 2003. p. 79.
27. Carmelo Rosario Natal. Ponce En Su Historia Moderna: 1945–2002. Published by Secretaría de Cultura y Turismo of the Government of the Autonomous Municipality of Ponce. Ponce, Puerto Rico. 2003. p. 79.

External links

• Information on the Archivo Histórico de Ponce according to Archivo General de las Indias. Accessed 30 January 2022. Archived.

• Cultural history of Puerto Rico
• Libraries in Ponce, Puerto Rico
• 1812 in Puerto Rico
• 1812 establishments in Puerto Rico
• Buildings and structures in Ponce, Puerto Rico
• Archives in insular areas of the United States