Broom Collection

A sharp collection of 91 books and pamphlets on race, class, migration, and society in the Caribbean and Latin America. Gathered by sociologist Leonard Broom, it offers key insights into social change across the region, reflecting his influential academic work in the US and Australia.

South America and the Caribbean

Key items in the collection

The Broom Collection includes 32 books, 37 pamphlets, and 22 serial titles. Most of these works focus on the West Indies, Central America, and Latin America. The collection contains titles in Spanish, Portuguese, and English.

The materials explore topics such as:

Race and class relations
Migration
Urbanisation
Other aspects of modern society in the Caribbean and Latin America

Some examples of publications in the collection are:

America Latina (1962–65)
WL Burn, Emancipation and apprenticeship in the British West Indies (1937)
David DeCamp, The field of creole language studies (1968)
Gilberto Freyre, The masters and the slaves (1956)
Manuel Gamio, Mexican immigration to the United States (1930)
PS Taylor, An American–Mexican frontier Nueces Country, Texas (1934)

About Leonard Broom

Leonard Broom (1911–2009) was born in Boston, USA. He graduated from Boston University and Duke University.

Academic career

Broom joined the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1941. Between 1953 and 1959, he was a Professor of Sociology and Anthropology there. He then became Professor of Sociology at the University of Texas from 1959 to 1971. After that, he worked as Professor of Sociology at the Research School of Social Sciences at The Australian National University from 1971 to 1976. After retiring, he returned to California.