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North/Central America

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Portrait of Francisco López de Solís

This partially damaged painting depicts Francisco López de Solís, who occupied many posts throughout his career. He served as a lawyer for the Fisco del Santo Oficio, a judge on the high court of both the Philippines and Guatemala.

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Female Terracotta Figure

This small piece measures only 9.8 centimeters tall. It depicts a clothed female figure, who appears to be wearing some kind of European-style belted dress with a collar.

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Cuauhtémoc prisionero

This painting depicts a scene from the conquest of Mexico City by Spanish soldiers (led by Hernán Cortés) in the early sixteenth century. It appears to have belonged to a larger work, but this section is all that remains.

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Chive Pocket Watch (Reloj de bolsillo tipo cebollón)

This object dates from the seventeenth century. It features a glass front and silver casing. The inscription reads "Tompion London," meaning that it was manufactured in England’s capital city. Tompion began producing this kind of pocket watch around 1658 with inventor Robert Hooke.

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Anonymous Portrait

This image depicts an unnamed man with a mustache. It dates from approximately 1880, according to the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia de México, where it resides. The exact origin of this image, or its connection to nineteenth-century Mexican life, remains unclear.

Eusebio Planas's comic strip "La Historía de una Mujer"
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Competitive Journalism

The modern world of journalism and news is a competitive one. To attract readers, newspapers publishing in the same places try to appear unique. Some, like this edition of the New York Post rely on sensationalized headlines and lurid stories to try to catch the reader's eye.

Early Eastman Kodak Advertisement from 1900
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Kodak Advertisement

When one evaluates a newspaper or a magazine as a source of information, the question of the intended audience almost always comes up. Who was this newspaper intended for? Who actually subscribes to this magazine? One way to answer such questions is through an analysis of advertisements.

Photo of mission
Teaching

Source Collection: Analyzing Historic Churches in the Southwestern US

Today, the US-Mexico border stretches along the path of the Rio Grande River. However, much of the territory that now makes up the Southwestern states of the US once belonged to the Spanish Crown. Studying the historic churches of Texas helps reveal this history.

Mission exterior
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La Exaltación de la Santa Cruz Mission

Founded in 1791, the La Exaltación de la Santa Cruz Mission was a Spanish colonial church in Santa Cruz, California. The objective of this institution was the evangelization of the nearby indigenous communities. They included the following peoples: Ohlone, Costanoan, Miwok, and Yokuts.

Mission exterior
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Misión Santa Clara de Asís

Located today on the Santa Clara University campus in Santa Clara University, the Mission Santa Clara de Asís was originally founded in 1777. Like many other missions nearby, it was created by Franciscan missionaries with the permission of the Spanish Crown.