Raoul Cortez's Underwood Typewriter
date: label: date made
content: about 1937
label: date made
content: 1932-19
label: date made
content: 1932-1949
label: Associated Date
content: 1937-1961
name: label: maker
content: Underwood Elliot Fisher Company
notes: label: Description
content: Raoul A. Cortez, journalist and broadcasting pioneer, got his start in Spanish-language media behind this typewriter. Cortez worked as a reporter for the Spanish-language newspaper, La Prensa, in San Antonio, Texas in the 1930s and 1940s. Writing news stories and opinion pieces, he advocated for the civil rights of Mexican Americans and in particular for the rights of Braceros and the desegregation of Texas schools. Cortez served twice as the president of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) in the late 1940s.
label: Description
content: Cortez moved from print journalism to broadcasting after World War II by opening the first Latino-owned, Spanish-language radio station in the continental United States in 1946. The radio station, and later television station, carried his name in the call letters, KCOR.
label: Description
content: The Underwood Typewriter Company produced the Champion model from 1932-1949. The keyboard on this model included an inverted question mark and exclamation point ensuring that users, such as Cortez, could create stories in Spanish.
place: label: place made
content: United States
topic: label: Subject
content: Journalism
label: Subject
content: Latino
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Production and Manufacturing
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content: Work
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content: KCOR Radio and Television
label: Exhibition
content: American Enterprise
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Emilio and Irma Nicolas
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2014.0320.01
label: catalog number
content: 2014.0320.01
label: accession number
content: 2014.0320
objectType: label: Object Name
content: typewriter
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: metal; rubber (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 6 1/4 in x 12 1/4 in x 11 1/4 in; 15.875 cm x 31.115 cm x 28.575 cm