Tulane receives $5 million to create the Doris Z. Stone Latin American Library and Research Center

Tulane’s Roger Thayer Stone Center for Latin American Studies has received a $5 million gift from the Zemurray Foundation to name the Doris Z. Stone Latin American Library and Research Center within the university’s renowned Latin American Library. The donation commemorates the centennial of Latin American studies at Tulane, which began with the founding of the Department of Middle American Research at Tulane in 1924. The gift bolsters Tulane’s longstanding global leadership in the field of Latin American studies. 

The library and research center will be named for New Orleans native Doris Z. Stone, who died in 1994 after a long career as a pioneering scholar in pre-Columbian Mesoamerican archaeology and anthropology. The goal of the center is to foster greater collaboration between the Latin American Library and the Stone Center and advance interdisciplinary research in the region’s history, culture and contemporary issues.

“The new center will strengthen our world-class research and honor a scholar whose groundbreaking work still has far-reaching influence and relevance today,” Tulane President Michael A. Fitts said. “We deeply appreciate the foundation’s vision and commitment, which will empower Tulane’s faculty and students to interact with Latin America in ever more meaningful and impactful ways.” 

The Latin American Library houses one of the world’s foremost collections on Latin America and the Caribbean, with more than 800,000 volumes spanning 30 countries. The academic unit that would later become the Stone Center was founded in 1962. Today, the Stone Center coordinates the research and teaching of more than 70 core faculty and 35 affiliated scholars across Tulane’s campuses. 

“The Zemurray Foundation’s investment will stimulate scholarship, fuel discovery, and deepen Tulane’s ties with Latin America,” said Robin Forman, Tulane’s provost and senior vice president. “By providing greater access to Tulane’s unparalleled scholarly resources, the center will be able to enhance its support for global collaboration and interdisciplinary research and will provide exciting new opportunities for academic exploration that will continue to shape this vital and expansive field.”

To integrate the new research center with academic programming, its director, Hortensia Calvo, will hold a joint appointment with the Stone Center, serving as both the chief Latin American librarian and a research professor. 

“I’m profoundly grateful to the Zemurray Foundation for this transformative gift,” said Calvo, who has led the Latin American Library since 2003. “It will enrich the Latin American Library’s collections, expand its research services, and enhance its international reputation as a leading hub for regional scholarship.”

Lindsay Cronk, dean of Tulane Libraries, said the gift will greatly enhance the Latin American Library as a nexus for scholars dedicated to studying the region. 

“This extraordinary gift strengthens the Latin American Library’s role at the heart of Tulane’s scholarly enterprise and honors the expertise of the library’s team. Through the library’s Kaleidoscope Vision, we are reimagining how our collections, expertise, and spaces can align to serve the university’s research mission. This new investment fuels that work, and we’re extremely thankful.”

Tom Reese, executive director of the Stone Center, said, “This remarkable gift deepens our commitment to excellence and upholds the essential relationship between the Stone Center and the Latin American Library. As we commemorate 100 years of research in Latin America at Tulane, this gift ensures that we continue shaping the global conversation in this area for decades to come.”

In 1931, Doris Z. Stone joined Tulane’s Department of Middle American Research, known today as the Middle American Research Institute, or M.A.R.I., where she worked as a research associate before moving with her husband, businessman Roger Thayer Stone, to Costa Rica, where she later served as director of the national museum. She published extensively for both M.A.R.I. and Harvard’s Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography. She succeeded her husband as president of the Zemurray Foundation, which in 1983 made a significant donation that named the Center for Latin American Studies after Roger Thayer Stone. Founded in 1951, the Zemurray Foundation supports education, health, environmental sustainability and cultural initiatives, aiming to enhance individual opportunities and community well-being.