Research


Scope and Content Note

The New York State Christopher Columbus Quincentenary Commission used the National Quincentenary Commission files to maintain coordination with its national counterpart. The files include records that document the planning of quincentenary events nationwide.

The core document file includes material (press releases, reports, and executive orders and legislation) that defines the mission of the quincentenary, and describes in a general way the projects and events that were planned. Also included in the series are a curriculum guide for the quincentenary (B1F10); records from quincentenary planning meetings, attended by commissioners and held in Italy and Puerto Rico; and the 1993 "National quincentenary Commission Final Report" (B1F12). The correspondence file contains responses from other states to Governor Cuomo's invitation to take part in the quincentenary commemoration.

The bulk of the series documents the quincentenary's Maritime Committee and the maritime events (Grand Regatta '92 and Operation Sail '92) held on the East Coast of the United States, especially those that occurred in New York Harbor. Quincentenary event brochures, flyers, images, posters, schedules, and project proposals for these maritime events, as well as for Ameriflora '92, held in Columbus, Ohio, can be found in these files.

Few of the records specifically address the initiatives to "document and celebrate America's Spanish Colonial past," even though both initiatives were prescribed by the commission during the event's the planning stage. Nor do they document the impact of these initiatives on Hispanic history. The commission's final report provides a general outline of its accomplishments. In this report, the Commission includes four addendums. One is from commission member Jayne H. Plank noting the importance of Puerto Rico and the "role it plays in the Western Hemisphere as conduit between English speaking peoples of North America and the Spanish speaking peoples of Central and South America." Another, from John R. Herbert, Assistant Chief, Hispanic Division, Library of Congress, discusses efforts to survey and document the "Archives of Spain related to the Americas."