This is a list that the LLILAS Benson Digital Scholarship Office maintains of free and open-source digital scholarship tools and platforms.
Digital Scholarship Tool List (Reference)
Genaro Garcia Manuscripts Collection (Primary Sources)
Manuscripts and archives acquired by Genaro García, Mexican historian, educator, lawyer, politician, and bibliophile, relating primarily to the history, politics, and culture of Mexico from the 16th-20th centuries, including archives of prominent Mexican political figures.
Catholic Church in Mexico Collection (Primary Sources)
Materials documenting activities of the Catholic Church in Mexico from 1580-1890, including original official documents and transcripts.
William B. Stephens Collection (Primary Sources)
Manuscripts and printed material related to the history of Mexico and southwestern United States (California, New Mexico, and Texas) before 1836. collected by geologist William B. Stephens.
Edmundo O’Gorman Collection (Primary Sources)
Collected by Mexican historian Edmundo O’Gorman, this collection is focused on central Mexico and contains documents mostly dating from the 17th and 18th centuries. The digitized documents primarily concern the activities of the Catholic Church and religious orders, primarily the Franciscans and the Jesuits, and their the treatment of Indigenous and Black people during the colonial period.
Benson Rare Book Collection (Primary Sources)
Digitized books in the Benson’s Rare Book Collection encompassing a wide variety of topics relating to Spanish and Latin America, including literature, histories, travel accounts, and secondary sources.
Royal Archive of Cholula (Primary Sources)
The Royal Archive of Cholula contains the documentation of the old Corregimiento of Cholula, one of the nine “Cities of Indians” that existed in New Spain. This colonial institution functioned as a district seat and had the powers of government, law, finance, and war over Indigenous villages and the Spanish, Black, Mestizo, and Creole populations.
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.
The Lieutenant Nun: More Than Catalina, More Than Alonso (Lesson)
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)
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.