NEH Chairman's Emergency Grant

FAIN: PB-261198-18

Inter-American University of Puerto Rico (Rio Piedras, PR 00927-4517)
Noel Allende (Project Director: January 2018 to May 2019)
Joaquin Martinez Torre (Project Director: May 2019 to August 2019)

The acquisition of a dehumidifier, cleaning and disinfection of items affected by mold and moisture, and the purchase of storage racks and packing supplies for record albums and other musical memorabilia related to Puerto Rican musical figures Augusto Alejandro Rodríguez Amador, Amaury Torregrosa, and Amado Manuel "Mandy" Vizos Ruiz that were damaged during Hurricane Maria.

The Puerto Rican Music Studies and Research Center is a 693 sq. ft. site located at the Inter American University of Puerto Rico, Metropolitan Campus.  The purpose of this center is to promote research and the study of its methodologies applied to music in particular to Puerto Rican musical culture.  In addition, is responsible of the conservation of musical collections, manuscript and memorabilia from three important musicians: Augusto A. Rodríguez Amador (1904 - 1993), Amaury Veray Torregrosa (1922 - 1995) y Amado "Mandy" Vizoso Ruiz (1925 - 2005).  Hurricane Maria resulted in flooding the facilities and moisture that caused the growth of mold in some items of the collections.  The "Mandy" Vizoso collection was the most affected by floodwater. In addition, the archival boxes and archival furniture of all collections were affected by floodwater and moisture.  These supplementary emergency funds would help us to restore these highly valuable collections and to rebuild it to a higher standard.