October 19, 2010 Historian George Reid Andrews Discusses “Blackness in the White Nation: A History of Afro-Uruguay”

Uruguay is often portrayed as a “white nation,” yet the African presence in that country goes back to the Spanish colonial period and is certainly evident in Uruguay’s music and its popular culture.

George Reid Andrews will discuss his new book “Blackness in the White Nation: A History of Afro-Uruguay” (University of North Carolina Press, 2010) on Monday, Nov. 1, at noon in the Whittall Pavilion of the Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First Street, S.E., Washington, D.C. The event is sponsored by the Library’s Hispanic Division and is free and open to the public.

Andrews is an internationally acclaimed historian of the African presence in Latin America. His prize-winning book, “The Afro-Argentines of Buenos Aires, 1800-1900,” published in 1980, became a standard text in countless classrooms in the United States, Latin America and Spain. He has written six other seminal works on Afro-Latins, including “Black and White in Sao Paulo, Brazil” and “Afro-Latin America, 1800-2000.” All of his books have been translated into Spanish or Portuguese. Andrews is distinguished professor and chair of the History Department at the University of Pittsburgh. He is also senior editor of the “Hispanic American Historical Review,” which is published at the University of Pittsburgh.

The Hispanic Division, established in 1939, is the center for the study of the cultures and societies of the Iberian Peninsula, Latin America and the Caribbean and other areas with significant Spanish or Portuguese influence. For more information about the division’s resources and programs and the Luso-Hispanic collections of the Library, visit www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic/.

Founded in 1800, the Library of Congress is the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution. The Library seeks to spark imagination and creativity and to further human understanding and wisdom by providing knowledge through its magnificent collections, programs, and exhibitions. Many of the Library’s rich resources can be accessed through its website at www.loc.gov and via interactive exhibitions on a personalized website at myLOC.gov.