Division of Community Life Dissertation
name: label: Creator
content: National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Community Life
label: Creator
content: Lange, Yvonne, 1918-2003 (Director Emerita, Museum of International Folk Art)
label: Names
content: Vidal, Teodoro
place: label: Place
content: Puerto Rico
topic: label: Topic
content: Religion -- Puerto Rico
label: Topic
content: Idols and images
label: Topic
content: Folk art
label: Topic
content: Christian saints
label: Topic
content: Art -- Collecting and Collectors -- Puerto Rico
label: Topic
content: Santos (Art)
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Collection donated by Yvonne Lange Museum of International Folk Art, Museum of New Mexico, February 21, 1986.
creator: label: Creator
content: National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Community Life
label: Creator
content: Lange, Yvonne, 1918-2003 (Director Emerita, Museum of International Folk Art)
abstract: label: Summary
content: Collection documents Yvonne Lange's dissertation the historical, socio-economical, and religious influences in Puerto Rico.
bioghist: label: Biographical/Historical note
content: "Santos" is a term used in Latin America to describe the locally made wooden sculptured representations of the Roman Catholic celestial hierarchy. In the nineteenth century this form of folk art developed in the central highlands of Puerto Rico. These cheerful images were deeply revered by the peasant farmers as the embodiment of an invisible and powerful presence which brought sympathetic feeling and fellowship to the community.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 0.66 Cubic feet (2 boxes, 4 volumes)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1975
container: label: Container
content: Box 1
label: Container
content: Box 2
custodhist: label: Custodial History
content: Collection transferred to the Archives Center from the Division of Community Life (now Division of Cultural and Community Life), March 24, 1986.
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Archives Center, National Museum of American History
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NMAH.AC.0197
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Dissertations
label: Type
content: Religious objects
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Collection processed by, NMAH Staff, undated
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Dissertations
label: Genre/Form
content: Religious objects -- Puerto Rico
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents note
content: One copy in four volumes (872 pp.) of the typescript of Lange's dissertation "Santos: The Household Wooden Saints of Puerto Rico (1975)" by Yvonne Lange. The dissertation, written for the Ph.D. in Folklore and Folklife at the University of Pennsylvania, attempts to analyse the phenomenon of the "santos" by describing its major features and to explain its existence through the historical, socio-economic, and religious factors that influenced it. This work is illustrated with photographic prints, most of which were taken by the author, mounted on text pages. Some of the santos described and illustrated are from Smithsonian collections, including the Teodoro Vidal Collection.