Frank Espada was a political activist and documentary photographer of Puerto Rican extraction based in New York and California. His photographic archives comprise thousands of black-and-white photographs and negatives as well as supporting papers and recordings, chiefly dating from the mid-1960s through 2000. The materials relate to Espada's lifelong work documenting the Puerto Rican diaspora, civil and economic rights movements, indigenous Chamorro communities in Micronesia, and HIV/AIDS outreach in San Francisco. The Puerto Rican Diaspora series includes over 150 oral history recordings. The Civil Rights series documents voter registration drives and school desegregation rallies in New York City, 1964-1970, as well as discriminatory housing and anti-poverty movements, primarily in California. The professional papers provide supporting documentation of his life and work as a photographer, activist, community organizer, and teacher, and include files related to research and writings, exhibits, teaching, and publicity. The earliest dated item is a 1946 essay by Espada, "What democracy means to me." Acquired as part of the Archive of Documentary Arts at Duke University.

Frank Espada's photographic archives comprise thousands of photographic prints, contact sheets, and negatives, as well as professional papers, spanning the length of Frank Espada's career as a photographer and community activist from the mid-1950s through 2010. The materials document Espada's Puerto Rican diaspora around the world; indigenous Chamorro communities in Micronesia, primarily in Guam, Tinian, and Saipan; drug abuse prevention programs and HIV/AIDS outreach in San Francisco; and civil rights, education, and housing rights movements, primarily in New York City and San Francisco. Espada was not only an observant photographer, but was also deeply involved in all of his projects as an activist, social worker, and humanitarian.

A large series of professional papers provides supporting documentation of his life and work as a photographer, activist, community organizer, and teacher. The earliest dated item, an essay Espada wrote in 1946, "What democracy means to me," is found in this series, which also contains research files on documentary and research topics; preparation for his many photography projects and related exhibits; a few videocassettes; teaching syllabi and notes from his photography courses at U.C. Berkeley; awards and memorabilia; and publicity.

The largest body of materials, which numbers over 12,000 items and includes photographs as well as manuscripts and over 100 recorded oral interviews, derives from Espada's work with Puerto Rican communities in the U.S. and in Puerto Rico.

Another significant group of materials derives from Espada's activism on behalf of voter registration and school desegregation in New York City from 1962-1970, and later in California in support of anti-poverty, HIV/AIDS and drug abuse prevention and outreach, and housing rights.

Each of the photographic project series includes finished prints ranging in size from 8x10 to 24x30 inches; contact sheets and work prints; and negatives, which are housed in a separate series and are closed to use.

Acquired as part of the Archive of Documentary Arts at Duke University.

Noted American photojournalist who worked for LOOK magazine; resident of New York, N.Y. The collection spans the years 1953 to 2006 and houses a nearly-complete photographic archive of photojournalist James Karales, active from the 1950s to the 1980s. The majority of the images in the collection originated from Karales' documentary work for Look magazine during the 1960s. His major projects include images from Rendville, Ohio, a coal mining town and one of the first racially integrated towns in Appalachia; Vietnam during the war; New York's Lower East Side; Oregon logging; and individuals and events of the Civil Rights movement during the 1960s, housed in three inter-related groups - the Martin Luther King, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and Civil Rights Series. Other smaller projects include images of California, New Mexico, and other subjects. Formats in the collection include contact sheets, which serve as a thumbnail guide to almost all of the prints and negatives in the collection; black-and-white proof prints and finished prints ranging from 8.5x14 to 16x20 inches; original negatives (closed to research use); and over 1100 color slides. There are also many print materials and some correspondence and audiovisual materials. Acquired by the Center of Documentary Arts at Duke University.

The collection spans the years 1953 to 2006 and houses a nearly complete photographic archive of well-known 20th century American photojournalist James Karales. The majority of the images in the collection originated from Karales' documentary work for Look magazine during the 1960s. The collection is organized around the following project series: Rendville, Ohio, a declining coal mining town and one of the first racially integrated towns in Appalachia; Vietnam, where Karales documented many scenes from the Vietnam War - the largest series in the collection; the Lower East Side, featuring street scenes and portraits from that New York City neighborhood; and Logging, where Karales documented the Pacific Northwest logging industry's practices and culture. Finally, Karales also shot many images of individuals and events of the Civil Rights movement during the 1960s, housed in three inter-related groups: the Martin Luther King Series; Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) Series; and the Civil Rights Series.

There is also a small group of supporting materials in the Manuscript and Printed Materials Series and the Audiovisual Materials Series that includes biographical documents such as Karales' curriculum vitae; Karales' essays on photography and teaching; publicity for exhibits and other events; correspondence with publishers; digitized images of Vietnam photos on a CD; and clippings, magazine layouts, and other materials related to Karales' published work. One recently dated item is an audiocassette of remarks on Karales' life and works made by Sam Stephenson at the opening of an exhibit of Karales' work at the Rubenstein Library at Duke University.

Publications where Karales' works appeared include Look, Life, Saturday Review, Pageant, Coronet, Popular Photography, Time-Life books, and several encyclopedias. Karales also produced commercial work for corporate annual reports. The collection does not include Karales' photojournalistic work from East Germany (1970), or Gheel, Belgium (1961). A number of Karales' images from the U.S. civil rights movement achieved iconographic status, and were - and still are - widely reproduced. His work is represented in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Formats in the collection include contact sheets, which serve as a thumbnail guide to most but not all of the prints and negatives in the collection; black-and-white proof prints and finished prints ranging from 8.5x14 to 16x20 inches; original negatives (closed to research use); and several hundred color slides. Unless otherwise noted, the photographic items are arranged in the following sequence in each series: contact sheets, prints (from smallest to largest), slides, negatives, and finally, duplicates. There are also digital jpeg files for selected images in certain series (Vietnam, Rendville). One print in the Civil Rights series was created by documentary photographer Alex Harris for an exhibit at Duke University and is noted in the collection guide's entry for this print.

Beginning with the contact sheets, researchers using the collection can note any identifying codes for the image, which may include Karales' job number (Karales assigned most of his jobs or photographic projects alpha-numeric codes), roll number, and frame (image) number, in that order. Whenever possible, Rubenstein staff have included these numbers with individual prints and negatives and within the collection's inventory to aid in matching nd discovery. In addition, staff have noted where film rolls are located within folders. For finished prints (typically 11x14 inches and larger), individual descriptions and unique Rubenstein library identifiers (beginning with "RL") have been assigned. There are a few images that have no identifying numbers and could not otherwise be identified from contact sheets or negatives. Such captions appear in brackets.

In order to facilitate the use of the materials, please consult with a Research Services archivist before coming to use this collection.

Acquired as part of the Archive of Documentary Arts at Duke University.