Organizations

Most of the CORRESPONDENCE and RESEARCH FILES relate to Kantor's WRITINGS on Latin American politics in general, and, in particular, on the leadership of Figueres in Costa Rica and Haya de la Torre in Peru, and the Peruvian Aprista movement. Kantor maintained phenomenal contacts with Latin American political leaders, both professionally and personally.

The CORRESPONDENCE contains original documents with official letterheads and the signatures of Latin American presidents. The Individuals and Organizations contacted were concerned with Latin American politics, international democracy, or both. The Countries and Topics pertain to Latin America.

The WRITINGS especially reflect Kantor's teaching of political science and his study of democracy, federalism, and political movements in Latin America.

The GENERAL FILES are a miscellany of clippings and articles.

The PHOTOGRAPHS depict Kantor and the Latin American political leaders, such as Bosch, Figueres, and Haya de la Torre, found in the other series. Some pictures are official portraits, others, campaign trail or personal snapshots. A few have autographs. Most of the PHOTOGRAPHS have names, events, and/or dates noted on the back.

The SCRAPBOOK reflects Kantor's life work, and recognition thereof, and includes articles about him. Items include business cards and invitations.

The INSTITUTE OF POLITICAL EDUCATION FILES document Kantor's work as a founding member of, advisor to, and visiting professor at the school in Costa Rica. Modelled on similar schools in Latin America, this Institute was created to teach the ideas of democracy to the future leaders of Latin America. Many of the political leaders who appear in the CORRESPONDENCE and WRITINGS supported the work of the Institute. Items include some issues of the Newsletter/Bulletin of the Institute edited by Kantor and Bosch, successively.

Kantor used the FIGUERES BIOGRAPHY RESEARCH FILES as the basis of books, articles, and lectures on Costa Rican politics, economics, etc. He was working on a biography of Jose Figueres which was never finished. Items in this series include handwritten notes and fragile newspaper clippings.

The LATIN AMERICAN POLITICAL PARTIES RESEARCH FILES include colorful flags, which represent parties and political leaders, and an extensive amount of index cards, which individually represent the political parties of Latin America from Argentina to Venezuela. Absent are cards for Costa Rica, but information on Costa Rican political parties can be found in the CORRESPONDENCE, WRITINGS, and FIGUERES BIOGRAPHY RESEARCH FILES series. The Aprista movement is represented here as well as in the CORRESPONDENCE. Each index card contains the name of the country, political party, and, if appropriate, the party acronym. Some of the cards indicate party leaders and/or affiliations with other parties. Additional information on some cards includes party headquarters, elections in which the party participated, and the legal status of the party.

The complete editions of the NEWSPAPERS of Costa Rica found here, (El Social Democrata, La Hora, Liberacion, Libertad, and Semana), are those not located in other holdings.

CULLED from the collection as a whole were pamphlets placed in the RADICAL LITERATURE COLLECTION; newspapers and journals available elsewhere and typescripts and galley proofs of Kantor's work with no editorial revisions.