The Center for Mexican American Studies and Research has acquired a collection of papers from Angela de Hoyos, the late Chicana poet, artist, songwriter and activist. 

Her body of work featured feminism, gender and Chicana philosophy as prominent themes. De Hoyos wrote Spanish language song lyrics in the 1950s and poetry and essays in the 1960s and 1970s when she emerged as a prominent voice in the Chicano movement.

She also produced drawings and other artistic motifs that included flowers and nature, buildings in the Spanish architectural style, sculptures and family portraits. De Hoyos enjoyed an international reach, as several of her works were translated and published in South America and Europe. The poet and author Raúl R. Salinas referred to her as the “spiritual den mother of Chicano letters.” 

In 2021, her husband Moises Sandoval donated materials related to her career to the CMASR Special Collections at OLLU. The Angela de Hoyos papers consist of approximately five linear feet of printed and digitally scanned documents, audio and video saved to CD and DVD, spanning her career from the 1940s through the 2000s.

Included in the collection are original poetry, books, instructional pamphlets, royalty statements and various publications in which she was featured. The digital files contain photos of her paintings, sculptures and block prints, dresses and pottery. 

The finding aid to the Angela de Hoyos papers is published under the Our Lady of the Lake University Library webpage for the Center for Mexican American Studies and Research. 

The papers are accessible in person by appointment at the Special Collections for the CMASR, located in the Our Lady of the Lake Convent, room 112. Through the summer, the archive is open Monday through Friday from 9:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. Contact archivist Joseph De León at jdeleon6315@ollusa.edu.