User:Mfernandezcampa/sandbox2

Life
Elba Cabrera (née Maria Elba Cabrera) is a Puerto Rican arts and culture advocate who has received multiple awards for her influential role, contributions and promotion of Puerto Rican heritage in the United States. She was born on September 10, 1933 in the city of Ponce in Puerto Rico. Cabrera migrated to the United States with her family in 1935. As many Puerto Ricans at the time, they came to live in East Harlem known as “el Barrio”. When she was nine, she moved to the Bronx with her family where she continued high school and later worked as secretary and bookkeeper.

Career and Contributions to the Arts
In the 1970s Cabrera completed a BA in Politics, Economics and Societies at Westbury (SUNY Old Westbury) in 1982. Her later work in the 1970s proofreading for filmmaker Amilcar Tirado shaped her deep connection to the arts and social change, as was the influence of the women in her family who had been involved in politics in Puerto Rico and the US. Cabrera started working as secretary for the Association of Hispanic Arts and quickly became associate director of the organisation until 1987.

As part of her work with the Association of Hispanic Arts, Cabrera supervised events and conferences as well as promoting activities. Cabrera also created the Directory of Hispanic Arts Organizations, and was the host of the television show “Hispanic Arts” on WNYC-TV.

Elba Cabrera became known by the nickname “La madrina de las artes” (the godmother of the arts) for her commitment and contribution to literature, performance and visual art, particularly of Puerto Rican heritage, in the United States. She was also an advisory councillor on the arts for Hostos Community. Cabrera officially retired in 2003 but has remained an active supporter of various arts organisations and initiatives, including the Hostos Community College Foundation, Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College, Comité Noviembre, and All Care Provider Services.

Elba Cabrera is the recipient of multiple prestigious awards in the arts such as a City of New York Proclamation from Council Member Marcos Jose Serrano (2003), the Comité Noviembre Award (2007), the Assemblywoman Carmen Arroyo Community Award (2008), a Special Recognition award from the New York League of Puerto Rican Women (2013), was named one of the Bronx Times 25 Bronx Influential Women (2014), among others. In 2019 Cabrera received a Clara Lemlich Award.

Legacy and Papers
Cabrera's archive is held at the Centro de Estudios Puertoriqueños (Center for Puerto Rican Studies) Hunter, CUNY. The collection contains her “personal and professional life, spanning the years 1924-2015, with the bulk of materials ranging from the 1970s-2014. As a dedicated arts and culture advocate, her papers are a rich resource for insight into New York City’s Puerto Rican and Latino arts scene from the 1970s-2000s, particularly the 1970s-1980s.”