Women in Colonial Latin America (Unit)

Women in Colonial Latin America (Unit)

Students will learn about how Indigenous and Spanish women navigated Spanish colonization and patriarchy in Latin America. This unit explores women’s agency through the figures of Malintzin (Malinche), Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, and Catalina de Erauso.

Malintzin: Indigenous Women Discover Spain (Lesson)

Malintzin: Indigenous Women Discover Spain (Lesson)

In this lesson, students will analyze images to compare the role of indigenous women in Mesoamerica before and after the Spanish colonization. They will consider how Malintzin, a Nahua woman from Coatzacoalcos, contributed to this process and how women resisted or adapted to the changes introduced by the Spaniards.

The Lieutenant Nun: More Than Catalina, More Than Alonso (Lesson)

Engraving of Doña Catalina de Arauso

Students will learn about the Mapuche, their worldview, lifestyle, and resistance. Through primary sources, they will analyze the day-to-day life of Spanish women in the Araucarian wars, such as Catalina de Erauso, also known as Alonso Diaz. They will find more information to consider how women used the legal and societal conventions to defy gender identity in colonial Latin America.

Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz: Obedience and Rebellion from the Convent (Lesson)

The Tenth Muse by Miguel Cabrera, Photostat of oil painting in the National Museum of Mexico, 1750

In this lesson, students will identify the main events in the life of Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz and analyze how the historical context shaped her life. Students will discuss women’s ability to make decisions in colonial Mexico through Sor Juana’s biography, her poem, You Foolish Men, and artwork inspired by her.

María Luisa Puga: A Life in Diaries (Exhibition)

María Luisa Puga: A Life in Diaries (Exhibition)

This exhibit celebrates the opening of Mexican novelist María Luisa Puga’s archives by showcasing highlights from the collection. Puga was a highly disciplined diarist and created personal journals, or cuadernos, to not only chronicle her daily life and activities, but also to developed her literary work. In capturing her dazzling approach to organization and extensive doodling habits, these diaries manifest the author’s own consciousness and provide a written record of feelings, friendships, and encounters—life’s most ephemeral moments, made permanent.

Embroiderers of Memories (Exhibition)

Embroiderers of Memories (Exhibition)

The exhibition highlights embroidered testimonies made by Salvadoran women exiled in the refugee camps of Honduras during the Salvadoran Civil War.

Newspaper Library of the Museum of the Word and the Image (Primary Sources)

Newspaper Library of the Museum of the Word and the Image (Primary Sources)

The digital archive contains news clippings and documents compiled by Inforpress Centroamericana on the topic of Violence in Guatemala. The news stories are arranged chronologically and address the distinct types of violence prevalent in Guatemala in the years 1978 to 1982: political violence, violence generated by the internal armed conflict, and everyday violence.

Armed Conflict Collection (Primary Sources)

Armed Conflict Collection (Primary Sources)

The digital collection consists of political propaganda from the period of the Salvadoran armed conflict (1980-1992), produced primarily by clandestine groups and solidarity organizations, as well as the military. The posters contain artwork and photos criticizing U.S. intervention in the conflict, announcing protests, and calling attention to government atrocities.