Stevens, Robert Kim, collector, "Che" Guevara and the Bolivian Guerrillas Collection

Call Number: Latin American Library Manuscripts, Collection 99

1966-1972. Materials saved by Stevens, political officer in the U.S. Embassy in La Paz, Bolivia, relating to Ernesto "Che" Guevara and the Bolivian guerrillas. Includes newspapers, clippings, microfilm, audiotapes, pamphlets, maps, articles, posters, manuscripts, photographs, and books. Also microfilm of 19th century Brazilian anarchist newspapers and other papers. ca. 10 linear feet.

Collection Guide
Prepared by J.R. Accettola, December 1994.

Overview of the Collection

The majority of this collection concerns the guerrillas and Ernesto "Che" Guevara in Bolivia, and covers roughly a six-year period, with material dating from 1966 to 1972. The collection consists of original wanted posters of Bolivian guerrillas, original guerrilla propaganda (i.e., printed and mimeographed pamphlets, newsletters), photographs, newspaper clippings (most of the original clippings were deteriorated and were photocopied onto acid-free paper and bound in notebooks), newspapers, journal articles, magazines, books and microfilm. This material was the unclassified "soft-file" of the American Embassy in La Paz and was saved by Robert Kim Stevens, who was then a junior political officer in the Embassy (1966-68).

A smaller part of the collection consists of microfilms of nineteenth-century Brazilian anarchist newspapers and notes on these newspapers, as well as a photocopy of a monograph, a few newspapers and clippings.

Size of the Collection

The collection consists of 60 notebooks, 3 folders, 17 bundles of newspapers, 71 photographs, 23 reels of microfilm, 2 audio tapes, and 12 clamshell acid-free boxes. Most of the original newspaper clippings were disposed of after they were photocopied and bound as notebooks. However, the original pamphlets and other printed material were photocopied and bound as notebooks, and the originals are preserved in acid-free folders in 12 boxes and correspond with the notebooks as notated at the end of the collection inventory.

See binder for a detailed 9-page inventory of the "Che" Guevara Collection.