COLOMBIA- BICENTENNIAL OF INDEPENDENCE

Colombia- Bicentennial of Independence

July 20, 2010 is the date when Colombians are celebrating their country's bicentennial of independence. Biblioteca Luis Angel Arango has created a webpage where the library, with the collaboration of other local institutions, is compiling historical documents, biographies, memoirs, maps, history of local habits, and other materials related to the history of the country and its independence process. According to the library, the original of the Declaration of Independence was burnt in a fire at Galerias del Cabildo in 1900 but a copy was published in 1872 on Diario de Cundinamarca which is also available on the webpage. The main idea of this project is to make available to the public as much information as possible regarding to the independence of Colombia.
The bicentennial webpage by Biblioteca Luis Angel Arango is nicely done, and visitors can find literature about Simon Bolivar (El Libertador), gravures of local habits, maps of Colombia since its discovery, besides of information in how locals used to live in the past. A material that called my attention was Diario de la independencia by José Maria Caballero, where the author writes about facts he witnessed during the independence process and describes several occasions when Colombia experienced earthquakes. The author even enumerated the fallen and damaged buildings and people that died or were injured in consequence of one of these events. In brief summary, the webpage contains information for students, researchers, or anybody interested in learning about the history of Colombia. The library continues adding material there.