The Mexican American Library Program (MALP), established in 1974 as a unit of the Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection, supports the study and research of all facets of Latino culture and history within the United States and its territories. Upon MALP’s 30th Anniversary, David O. Nilsson established this endowment to support the program’s objectives in the fields of Mexican American and U.S. Hispanic/Latino Studies.

Materials within MALP relate to the history, politics and culture of the mexicano experience in Texas and the United States. Other U.S. Latino groups also are represented in the collection, including Puerto Ricans, Cubans and Central and South Americans. Internationally recognized as one of the leading collections in its field, MALP contains approximately 30,000 books and journals, 2,500 reels of microfilm, more than 100 archival collections, and thousands of audio and videocassettes, posters, and photographs and slides.

Among the archival collections are the organizational records of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and the personal and professional papers of influential Mexican Americans such as Américo Paredes, George I. Sánchez and Julián Samora documenting aspects of the history of American anthropology, education and civil rights, respectively.

Dr. Nilsson, a retired professor in mathematics at the University of Texas at Austin, received all of his academic degrees (B.A., M.A. and Ph.D.) at the University. Since his “retirement,” he continues an active life in Austin as an accountant and high school tutor. He also mentors and provides assistance to the education of residents of Tejupilco, a town in the mountains southwest of Mexico City.

This story appears courtesy of The University of Texas Libraries.