In this post, we find our digital projects editor, Terence, traveling to Houston, Texas, to meet with the Arte Público Press digital team: Executive Editor Gabriela Baeza Ventura, Carolina Villarroel of the Recovering the US Hispanic Literary Heritage Project, and Digital Programs Manager Lorena Gauthereau. The conversation revolved primarily around their recovery mission, the presses digital initiatives, as well as intro publications aimed at younger members of the Latino community. And, of course, all the amazing cuisine that Houston has to offer.

In Houston and thrilled to heading to @artepublico in a few moments. Can't wait to meet @gbaezaventura, @rayenchil, and @LGauth19 and start talking through their ideas for @ManifoldScholar. Enhanced OA volumes, archival materials, and more—here we come!

— Terence Smyre (@tremayning) October 16, 2019

When he first arrived, Carolina took Terence on a tour of the press and walked him through their mission. Her passion, excitment, and joy for her work were not only tangible, they were utterly catching. Much of the press's focus is devoted to the recovery of primary documents and scholarship in both Spanish and English, from before the Mexican Revolution and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo through to the 1960s. These documents are uncovered and brought to light through intense research of archival materials by students and staff who use their findings to reach out to libraries and community members—descendants of those who made these first-hand accounts—to secure and scan them as a means to preserve, contextualize, and realize them as a living history of the Latino community, accounts which would otherwise be absent from the histories. Seeing these one-of-a-kind, first-hand accounts being processed was striking, and to know that Manifold will help extend the scope and reach of these materials is utterly thrilling and at the heart of the work we set out to do at the very beginning.

Blown away yesterday by the amazing and important work that @artepublico is doing. After some breakfast tacos this morning (yum!), we're going to get back to @ManifoldScholar training and start loading up projects the press has earmarked for their instance. Stay tuned!

— Terence Smyre (@tremayning) October 17, 2019

"Our meetings were punctuated with a lot of laughs and excitement as we explored all that Manifold could do in service to their efforts," Terence remarked. They talked about ways to publish and enhance essays resulting from conference proceedings on the platform; approaches for scholarly editions of materials their recovery efforts produce in tandem with our new reading group functionality, as well as possible future endeavors around journal and children's titles. And to close out the visit, they had a really productive discussion with press director, Nicolás Kanellos, about their sustainability efforts in these areas. This team has it all, and it's going to be a joy to continue working with them on this important work. Keep an eye out—the official launch of Arte Público Press Digital is coming in February at the Recovering the US/Hispanic Literary Heritage Project conference.

Learning learning with @tremayning with @ManifoldScholar this morning! Thanks for giving @artepublico and @APPRecovery a scholarship to launch our APPDigital editions! #usLdh #whereislatinxdh

— Gabi Baeza Ventura (@gbaezaventura) October 16, 2019

Learn more on the Arte Publico Press website, follow them on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, and Pinterest.

• Miles traveled: 2,122
• Culinary highlights: The APP team took great care of Terence from start to finish, from the sweet and savory Mexican breads they began their first day with, through the best fish tacos Terence has ever had to the amazing breakfast tacos and Vietnamese lunch the following day. Houston has amazing— amazing!—food.
• Fun fact: “There's a story behind marranitos (Mexican gingerbread pigs), but I have to admit I was too involved in savoring their delicious taste that I kinda missed out on that. If you ever get the opportunity, don't let it pass you by!”