Nuestro

The 1977 premier issue cover of Nuestro. Photographer: Ryszard Horowitz; Art Director and Designer: Joan Gramatte

Nuestro was the first nationally published, monthly, general-interest magazine, in English, for and about Latinos in the United States. It was a landmark in publishing history in this country. Up until this time only "special interest" magazines for Latinos existed and were printed in Spanish. Latinos were an untapped and highly lucrative market for which census statistics showed that 76 percent of the Latino population was bilingual. This is from the New York Times article written by Philip H. Dougherty, Feb. 22, 1977 (See citation below): "Unlike all the other publications aimed at this market (estimated at from 2.6 million to 3.2 million households with an annual income of some $30 billion) Nuestro will be virtually entirely in English except for a brief Spanish synopsis preceding major features."

Nuestro means "Ours" in Spanish.[1] It was conceived by Daniel Lopez, 36, a businessman. It was first published in 1977.

History

Lopez, along with Joan Gramatte his business partner in Nuestro and also co-founder of the parent corporation Nuestro Grafico Inc., a graphic design and consulting company based in Washington, D.C., initially funded the preliminary run-up to publication expenses with their own money. Then they secured staff and production funding (more than $1.1 million) for the venture from the Federal Government's Small Business Administration (SBA), Ford Foundation, and several private investors.

The first issue was published in April 1977, with a 200,000 print run.[2] It was both a subscription and newsstand publication. The magazine was written in English, with some Spanish information for major features in the magazine.[1] Lopez chose to print in English instead of Spanish because he felt that younger Latinos speak English more often.[3] He also marketed the magazine as the first for Latinos in English.[4] Primary offices were in midtown Manhattan.

With Lopez as publisher, the editorial department was headed by Editor-in-Chief Charles Rivera, co-managing editors, José M. Ferrer III[5] and Philip Herrera, both of whom were formerly associate editors at Time; along with Senior Editor, Dolores Prida.[6][7] The Executive Production Manager was Anne Rieschick. The Head of Creative and Art Director was Joan Gramatte.

An all-business magazine called NBR, Nuestro Business Review, was also launched by Lopez and Gramatte.

Neither magazine published passed the end of 1981.

References

Citations

  1. 1 2 Dougherty, Philip H. (1977-02-22). "Advertising". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-10-21.
  2. ↑ "Media Briefs". The Los Angeles Times. 1977-02-27. p. 80. Retrieved 2017-10-21 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ↑ Fowler, Elizabeth M. (1977-08-05). "Management". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-10-21.
  4. ↑ Magaña 2014, p. 28.
  5. ↑ "Jose Ferrer Obituary". Legacy.com. May 16, 2018.
  6. ↑ Olmos, Margarite Fernandez (2006-05-03). "Prida, Dolores (1943 - )". In Ruiz, Vicki L.; Korrol, Virginia Sánchez. Latinas in the United States, set: A Historical Encyclopedia. Indiana University Press. p. 582. ISBN 0253111692.
  7. ↑ Weber, Bruce (2013). "Dolores Prida, Columnist on Hispanic Matters, Dies at 69". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-10-21.

Sources

  • Magaña, José (Winter 2014). "Marketing Latinidad: La Luz and Nuestro's Search for a Latino Market in the 1970s" (PDF). Perspectives: A Journal of Historical Inquiry. 41: 27–52.
  • "The Press: New Voice for Latinos." Time. Monday April 18, 1977.
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