One of the noteworthy resources housed in the UCR Library’s Special Collections & University Archives is an assortment of glass plate negatives, photographs, and lantern slides taken by photographer Sabino Osuna.

Created during the years 1910 to 1914, Osuna’s images feature prominent figures in the Mexican Revolution, including Pancho Villa, Emiliano Zapata, Francisco Madero, Victoriano Huerta, Alvaro Obregon, and others.

Osuna’s photographs also depict soldiers engaged in guerrilla warfare on the streets of Mexico City during La Decena Trágica, a ten-day period from February 9 and February 19, 1913 that resulted in a coup d’état and the assassinations of the Mexican president and vice president.

A copy of the full Osuna digital photograph catalog was presented to Mexico’s Secretary of Culture by UC Board of Regents Chair Monica Lozano in a hand-made box.

The presentation ceremony was held on March 29, 2017 during a reception at the University of California’s facility in Mexico City, called Casa de California.

“California and Mexico share a long and rich tradition of arts and culture,” UC President Janet Napolitano commented. “It’s with great pleasure that we provide the ministry with access to the Osuna collection as a symbol of our continued partnership on issues of cultural significance.”

Now, students, historians, and community members in Mexico will also have local access to his rich cultural record.

UC Riverside students, staff, faculty, and community members are invited to visit Special Collections on the fourth floor of Tomás Rivera Library to view the Osuna collection in person. The images can also be viewed online using Calisphere.