The Acción Latina and El Tecolote pictorial archive contains photographic prints (black and white and color), contact sheets, slides, negatives, digital photographs, posters, and artists' prints related to the organization's work on behalf of the Latino community in San Francisco's Mission District, particularly the organization's newspaper, El Tecolote, and its music festival, Encuentro del Canto Popular, and to political activism at the local, national, and international level. The present finding aid focuses on the fully-processed parts of the collection: the photographic prints and the posters and artists' prints.

Acción Latina is a non-profit organization based in San Francisco's Mission District. Acción Latina's mission is, "to promote cultural arts, community media, and civic engagement as a way of building healthy and empowered Latino communities." The work that would become foundational to the organization began in 1970, when San Francisco State University professor Juan Gonzales launched the community-based, bilingual newspaper El Tecolote with his students. In 2023, the largely volunteer-run newspaper continues to be published twice monthly and is now the longest running Spanish/English bilingual newspaper in the United States. Its print run of 10,000 copies is distributed in Spanish-speaking communities throughout the Bay Area. El Tecolote also mainains a website and produces a podcast. The newspaper covers regional, national, and international stories affecting Latino communities. In 1982, volunteers from El Tecolote and New College of California staged the first Encuentro del Canto Popular, a festival promoting Latin American music, which became an annual event. A grant from the James Irvine Foundation supported organizational and strategic planning work following Acción Latina's formal incorporation in 1987, and the first executive director was hired that year. In 2000, Acción Latina purchased a building on 24th Street in the Mission District to become its permanent headquarters, and in 2015 the organization opened the Juan R. Fuentes Gallery in the building "to showcase the diversity of visual art forms--ceramics, watercolor, sculpture, photography, poster art--created by established and emerging Latino/a artists." Acción Latina continues to host art exhibitions and tours, including the recurring community art walk Paseo Artistico, readings, and music events.

22 linear feet (9,600 photographic prints in 25 boxes; negatives; digital photographs; and approximately 435 prints (chiefly posters) in 4 boxes and 16 oversize folders)

Some materials in these collections may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). In addition, the reproduction of some materials may be restricted by terms of University of California gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions, privacy and publicity rights, licensing and trademarks. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user. For additional information about the University of California, Berkeley Library's permissions policy please see: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/about/permissions-policies

Photographic prints (PIC boxes 1-23, AX box 1, B box 2), posters and artists' prints (B boxes, C boxes, D folders, F folder) are open for research. The remainder of the collection (chiefly negatives and digital photographs) is unprocessed. For current status, please consult the library's online catalog.