An Interview with Nettie Lee Benson
N T ETTIE Lee Bensoin was horn in Arcadia, Texas, January 15, 1905. She received a B.A. and an M.A. in History and the Ph.D. in Latin American Studies from the University of Texas at Austin. After teaching in a bilingual institute in Mointerrev, Mexico, and in public schools in Sinton, Hartley, and(I Ingleside, Texas, she became director of the Latin American Collection of the Uiniversity of Texas, Austin. She served for thirty-three years as the director of the Latin American Collection that todav bears her name. She also hel(d professorships in History and Library Science. Her many honiors include the Premio de America (Casa de Cultura Americana, Acapulco, 1972), Presidency of the IVth Congress of Mexican and United States Historians (1972), Presidency of Seminars on the Acquisition of Latin Arnerican Library Materials (1973), designation as Distinguished Alumna by the University of Texas at Austin in the fall of 1981, and receipt of both the Distinguished Service Award of the Confeience oII Latin American History (1976) and the Aguila Azteca, presented by President Jose L6pez Portillo (July 1979). One of the original founders of SALALM, Dr. Benson has served on the editorial board of the Hisp,anic American Historical Review (1972-79) and as a member of the LASA Committee on Scholarly Resources (1965-date), the Committee for the Guide to Archival Resources in the United States (1958-date), and the Organizing Committee for the Vth Congress of Mexican and United States Historians.