The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) supports the Radio Programming Preservation and Access Project of the Puerto Rico Public Broadcasting Corporation – April 20, 2006- The Puerto Rico Public Broadcasting Corporation and its Ángel F. Rivera Documentation Center have received 315,750.00 dollars from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) for the preservation and access of 4,171 hours of radio programming produced from 1958 on by the public radio stations of Puerto Rico. "The preservation project aspires to rescue the entire cultural and artistic legacy that has been produced in the public stations of Puerto Rico and make it accessible to our people,” explained Víctor Montilla, President of the PRPBC.

The $315,750.00 grant will fund the project for a two-year period. “This assignment of funds validates the Corporation’s plans to develop a Documentation Center to house its four audiovisual archives: The Historic Archive, the Radio Archive, the Video Library and the News Archive”, Montilla said. “To be able to rescue hundreds of hours of broadcast that include Las estampas de Teyo García and music by great ones such as Ramito, among others, is invaluable to our country’s history. This audio archive represents an opportunity to save these materials and make them accessible to future generations,” he concluded.

”The Radio Programming Preservation and Access Project of the Documentation Center is the first project aiming to preserve radio content in Puerto Rico that has the financial and technical support of the National Endowment for the Humanities. This assignment of federal funds recognizes the viability of plans and the preservation and access techniques developed by the Ángel F. Rivera Documentation Center, in the frame of a radio station and the use of digital technology for the purpose of preserving historic materials. NEH support also recognizes the importance of the artistic and historic material for Puerto Rico and for Puerto Rican and Latino communities in the United States,” said Luis Rosario Albert, Director of the Ángel F. Rivera Documentation Center.

Ileana Rivera Santa, the PRPBC’s Planning and Development Director, explained the importance of the NEH award. “This effort started with a proposal that included a detailed work plan. It was submitted and, on its merits, competed with other projects in the United States and received the highest amount of funds ever allocated to a project of this type in Puerto Rico. As a matter of fact, we have to thank our Board of Advisors, for their assistance: Dr. José Manuel González Lamela, Executive Director of Puerto Rican Endowment for the Humanities; Mr. Julio Quirós, Director of Archives of Fundación Luis Muñoz Marín (Luis Muñoz Marín Foundation); Mr. José Álvarez, PRPBC’s Systems Director; Mariano Artau, Producer and Radio connoisseur; and José A. Ribas Dominicci, President of the Puerto Rico Radio Broadcasters Association," said Rivera Santa.