A new exhibit at Cal State Northridge takes an intimate look at the role the community has played in making California what it is today.

The exhibit, "Cultura y Comunidad: The Legacy of Latino Leadership in California," opens on Tuesday, Sept. 7, in the C.K. and Teresa Tseng Gallery of the university's Oviatt Library. It is scheduled to run through Oct. 29.

"In this exhibition we are trying to show the particular experiences and accomplishments of individual leaders and organizations, rather than presenting a monolithic view of Latino life in California," said Rebecca S. Graff, one of the curators of the exhibit. "We want to emphasize the importance of preserving the past through archives, especially for minority groups whose history has been underrepresented in archival collections. And we want to let people know, including students at CSUN, that we house archival collections that are rich sources of primary materials for their research."

The exhibit draws from the vast and varied collections in the library's Urban Archives Center and includes documents, letters, photographs, posters and other memorabilia from former U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Julian Nava, a professor emeritus of history at Northridge; Frank del Olmo, the late columnist and associate editor with the Los Angeles Times; and Chicano activist Rodolfo Acuña, a CSUN professor often cited as the "father of Chicano studies."

"Cultura y Comunidad" also includes material from the ground-breaking Latino/Chicano comedic theatre troupe Culture Clash; Comisión Femenil San Fernando Valley, an organization that promotes Latina leadership and education; and Mothers of East Los Angeles, a grass roots neighborhood group that promotes environmental and social justice.

The exhibit's opening reception will be on Tuesday, Sept. 14, from 6 to 8 p.m. in the C.K. and Teresa Tseng Gallery of the library. A lecture and discussion of the show will take place from 1 to 3 p.m. in the library's Presentation Room on Wednesday, Sept. 15. Both events are free and open to the public.

The Oviatt Library is located in the center of the campus at 18111 Nordhoff St. in Northridge.

The exhibit is made possible by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education. The library received a five-year, $1.6 million Title V Hispanic-Serving Institutions Grant from the U.S. Department of Education to inventory, process and preserve archival materials in its collection on the Latino community.

The Oviatt Library is home to more than one million volumes, three million microfilms, 125,000 government publications, 7,798 periodical titles and an extensive historical collection of mixed media, rare books and archives. It serves as the main research facility in the San Fernando Valley.