In an effort to make available to the public official OAS documents that are not available in full text, the Columbus Library has digitized various documents collections including: Construction of the OAS Main Building; Columbus Lighthouse Competition; Ad Hoc Meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Relations on Haiti - in the four official languages of the Organization: English, Spanish, French and Portuguese; Bolivia - Access to the Sea, in Spanish and English; collection of photographs of Costa Rica. We appreciate the collaboration of the volunteers Ms. Eunice Lluberes and Mrs. Olga Echeverría for their valuable collaboration and research.

If you are interested in these documents, please contact the Columbus Memorial Library.

Index

  1. Online Catalog
  2. Administration Building
  3. Assistant Directors – PAU
  4. Assistant Secretaries General – OAS
  5. Bolivia - Outlet To The Sea
  6. Cuba and the Inter-American System
  7. Directors of the International Union of American Republics
  8. Directors of the Pan American Union
  9. Haiti
  10. Main Building
  11. Pan American Day
  12. Secretaries General – OAS
  13. World Digital Library

Online Catalog

The Online Catalog and the public card catalog are usually the first places to look to locate bibliographic information. The online catalog includes the records corresponding to the books and serials catalogued since 1980 to the present.

Visit Online Catalog  

Article Written by Secretary of Hemispheric Affairs - Amb. James Lambert:   Multilateralism to a Latin Beat - Bout June 2021.pdf

Assistant Directors – PAU

The Assistant Director was called Secretary until 1910.

Horacio Guzmán Nicaragua May 31, 1898 - October 18, 1905 1898-1905
Francisco J. Yañes Venezuela October 19, 1905- February 25, 1924 (death) 1905-1924
Esteban Gil Borges Venezuela March 15, 1924 - May 19, 1936 1924-1936
Pedro de Alba Mexico January 1, 1936 - July 31, 1947 1936-1947

World Digital Library

On September 11, 2008, Dr. James Hadley Billington, Librarian of Congress, and José Miguel Insulza, Secretary General of the OAS signed a Contribution Agreement to develop the World Digital Library.

Bolivia - Outlet To The Sea

The Columbus Memorial Library has digitized the Organization’s Official Documents on Bolivia and the outlet to the Sea in Spanish and in English. For more information please contact the Library at [email protected].

Cuba and the Inter-American System

OAS Documents
Selected Bibliography
  • La competencia de la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos y las obligaciones internacionales de Cuba en la materia / F. V. García-Amador. University of Miami, Institute of Interamerican Studies, 1984. 49 p.
  • Cuba and the Inter-American System: Exclusion of the Castro Regime from the Organization of American States  / Edward Alden Jamison. The Americas, Washington, D.C., v.36, n.3, Jan. 1980. p. 317-346.
  • La cuestión cubana en la OEA y la crisis del sistema interamericano / F.V. Garcia- Amador.  Coral Gables, FL: Institute of Interamerican Studies, University of Miami, Graduate School of International Studies, 1987. v. 138 p.; 22 cm  Ref F 1402 .G3 1987
  • Encyclopedia of the Inter-American System / G. Pope Atkins. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1997. xxii, 561 p.: ill. maps; 24 cm. Ref F 1410 .A79 1997 Historical Dictionary of Inter-American Organizations / Larman C. Wilson and David W. Dent. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 1998. xxxi, 361 p. ill., maps; 23 cm. Ref. JZ 5331 .W55 1998
  • Latin America in the International Political System/ G.  Pope Atkins. 3d. ed. Boulder, Co.: Westview Press, 1995. JX 1393 .L3 .A9 1995
  • The Organization of American States / O. Carlos Stoetzer. 2nd. ed. Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 1993. xx, 443 p.; 24 cm. Ref. F 1402 .S9 1993

Directors of the International Union of American Republics

1890-1893 August 26, 1890 William Elory Curtis U.S.A.
1893-1897 May 1, 1893 Clinton Furbish U.S.A.
1897-1898 March 29, 1897 Joseph P. Smith U.S.A.
1898-1899 February 28, 1898 Frederick Emory U.S.A.
1899-1905 May 20, 1899 William W. Rockhill U.S.A.
1905-1907 April 1, 1905 William C. Fox U.S.A.

Directors General of the Pan American Union

Dr. Leo S. Rowe was the Director of the Pan American Union until his death on December 5, 1946.  Alberto Lleras Camargo (Colombia) was in office from June 4, 1947 to July 31, 1954.

John Barrett U.S.A. January 1, 1907 1907-1920
Leo S. Rowe U.S.A. Sep. 20, 1920 1920-1946
Alberto Lleras Camargo Colombia June 7, 1947 1947-1954

Administration Building

Administration Building Administration Building, OAS

The cornerstone of the Administration Building of the Organization of American States was laid on October 12, 1948. The building is located on Constitution Ave. between the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Streets, NW, Washington D.C. It is a white marble and steel, three-story building, designed by the architects Harrison, Livingston and Larson of Philadelphia.

Main Building

Main Building Main Building, OAS

When the OAS Building located at Seventeenth Street and Constitution Ave., N.W., Washington D.C., was completed in 1910, it was considered the architectural wonder of its time. One hundred seven years later, the building's tropical patio, marbled staircases and galleries, and monumental halls continue to delight the thousands of tourists and diplomats who visit the elegant structure every year.

  More about the Main Building

Haiti

Ad Hoc Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs
General Assembly
Agreements

Secretaries General – OAS

The Secretary General of the Organization shall be elected by the General Assembly for a five-year term and may not be reelected more than once or succeeded by a person of the same nationality. Art. 108, Charter of the OAS.

Name Country Appointment Total Term
Alberto Lleras Camargo Colombia June 7-1947- July 31, 1954 1947-1954
Carlos Dávila Chile July 31, 1954- October 20, 1955 (death) 1954-1955
José Antonio Mora Uruguay January 16-1956 -May 17, 1958 (acting) 1956-1958
José Antonio Mora Uruguay May 18, 1958- May 18, 1968 1958-1968
Galo Plaza Lasso Ecuador May 18, 1968 - July 7, 1975 1968-1975
Alejandro Orfila Argentina July 7, 1975 - July 7, 1980 1975-1980
Alejandro Orfila Argentina July 7, 1980 - March 31, 1984 1980-1984
Valerie T. McComie Barbados April 1, 1984 - June 20, 1984 (acting) 1984
Joao Clemente Baena Soares Brazil April 1, 1984- June 20, 1994 1984-1994
Christopher R. Thomas Trinidad & Tobago June 20, 1994- September 15, 1994 (acting) 1994
César Gaviria Trujillo Colombia September 15, 1994- September 14, 2004 1994 - 2004
Miguel Angel Rodríguez Costa Rica September 15, 2004-October 15, 2004 (resigned) 2004
Luigi Einaudi U.S.A. October 16, 2004-May 26, 2005 (acting) 2004 -2005
José Miguel Insulza Chile May 26, 2005-May 26, 2015 2005-2015
Luis Almagro Lemes Uruguay May 26, 2015- 2015-

Assistant Secretaries General – OAS

The Assistant Secretary General shall be elected by the General Assembly for a five-year term and may not be reelected more than once or succeeded by a person of the same nationality. Art. 114, Charter of the OAS.

William Manger U.S.A. August 1 1947 - May 16, 1958 1947-1958
William Sanders U.S.A. May 18, 1958 - May 18, 1968 1958-1968
Miguel Rafael Urquía El Salvador May 18, 1968 - July 7, 1975 1968-1975
Jorge Luis Zelaya Coronado Guatemala July 7, 1975 - July 7, 1980 1975-1980
Valerie T. McComie Barbados July 7, 1980 - July 9, 1990 1980-1990
Christopher R. Thomas Trinidad and Tobago July 9, 1990 - June 5, 2000 1990-2000
Luigi Einaudi U.S.A. June 6, 2000 - July 18, 2005 2000-2005
Albert R. Ramdin Suriname July 19, 2005 - July 16, 2015 2005-2015
Nestor Mendez Belize July 17, 2015- 2015-

Pan American Day

Pan American Day is celebrated annually as a "commemorative symbol of the American nations and the voluntary union of all in one continental community" marking the anniversary of the day in 1890 when the Pan American Union was established.

Pan American Day