UNESCO's Memory of the World International Register lists documentary heritage – texts, audio-visual materials, library and archive holdings – that have been judged to be of global importance. The register brings that heritage to the attention of experts and the wider public, promoting the preservation, digitization, and dissemination of those materials. The first inscriptions were added to the register in 1997. As of 2025, 570 pieces of documentary heritage had been included in the register. Of these, 83 were nominated or co-nominated by countries from the region of Latin America and the Caribbean. These include recordings of folk music, ancient languages and phonetics, aged remnants of religious and secular manuscripts, collective lifetime works of renowned giants of literature, science and music, copies of landmark motion pictures and short films, and accounts documenting changes in the world's political, economic and social stage.
List by country/territory Documentary heritageCountry/TerritoryCustodian(s), Location(s) Yearinscribed Reference The West India Committee collectionAnguilla,Antigua and Barbuda,Jamaica,United Kingdom,MontserratSidney Martin Library, University of the West Indies at Cave Hill 2015 Documentary heritage of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la PlataArgentinaNational Archives, Buenos Aires 1997 Human Rights Documentary Heritage 1976–1983 - Archives for Truth, Justice and Memory in the struggle against State TerrorismArgentinaCONADEP Documentary Fonds Secretaría de Derechos Humanos de la Provincia de Buenos Aires Honorable Legislatura de la Provincia de Tucumán Subsecretaría de Derechos Humanos de la Provincia de Tucumán Archivo General de la Provincia de Santa Fe Sub- Secretary for Public Security of the Ministry of Government, Justice and Religious Affairs Penitentiary Service of Santa Fe Province Comisión Provincial por la Memoria Government of Mendoza Province., Sub-Secretary for Community Relations, Ministry of Justice and Security
Asociación Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo Asamblea Permanente por los Derechos Humanos (APDH)
Asociación Civil Madres de Plaza de Mayo – Línea Fundadora Servicio Paz y Justicia /Service for Peace and Justice Foundation (SERPAJ)
Asociación Civil Memoria Abierta
Institutional Archive of the Civil Association Anahí Fondo Adelina Dematti de Alaye 2007 The Villa Ocampo Documentation CenterArgentina,United StatesUNESCO Villa Ocampo
Harvard College Library, Harvard University 2017 Documentary heritage of the enslaved people of the Dutch Caribbean and their descendants (1816-1969) - ArubaAruba National Archives of Aruba, Oranjestad National Library of Aruba, Oranjestad 2025 Farquharson's JournalThe BahamasBahamas Archives, Nassau 2009 Registry of Slaves of the British Caribbean 1817-1834The Bahamas,Belize,Dominica,Jamaica,Saint Kitts and Nevis,Trinidad and Tobago,United KingdomBahamas Archives, Nassau Belize Archives and Records Service National Documentation Centre, Roseau Jamaica Archives & Records Department National Archives, Government Headquarters, Basseterre National Archives Trinidad and Tobago The National Archives-Kew 2009 Documentary Heritage of Enslaved Peoples of the CaribbeanBarbadosBarbados Museum and Historical Society, St. Michael 2003 Federal Archives FondsBarbadosUniversity of West Indies Cave Hill Campus, Bridgetown 2009 The Nita Barrow CollectionBarbadosUniversity of West Indies Cave Hill Campus, Bridgetown 2009 Silver Men: West Indian Labourers at the Panama CanalBarbados,Jamaica,Panama,Saint Lucia,United Kingdom,United StatesBarbados Museum and Historical Society, St. Michael Bahamas Archives, Nassau Jamaican Archives and Records Department, St. Catherine National Library of Jamaica St. Lucia National Archives, Castries Museo del Canal Interoceánico de Panamá, Panama City Mrs. Primrose Mallet-Harris, Mallet Court, Taunton The National Archives-Kew The National Archives and Records Administration The George A. Smathers Library, University of Florida 2011 The West Indian Commission PapersBarbadosSidney Martin Library, University of the West Indies 2015 An African Song or Chant from BarbadosBarbados,United KingdomGloucestershire Archives 2017 American Colonial Music: a sample of its documentary richnessBolivia,Colombia,Mexico,PeruBiblioteca Nacional del Peru Archivo Histórico de la Arquidiócesis de Oaxaca Archivo Nacional de Bolivia Catedral Primada de Colombia - Archivo Musical de la Catedral 2007 Documentary Fonds of Royal Audiencia Court of La Plata (RALP)BoliviaArchivo Nacional de Bolivia 2011 Cathedral of La Plata Church Music Manuscript CollectionBoliviaArchivo Nacional de Bolivia 2013 Life and Works of Ernesto Che Guevara: from the originals manuscripts of its adolescence and youth to the campaign Diary in BoliviaBolivia,CubaChe Guevara Studies Center, Havana 2013 Secular Town Council of Potosí (1585-1817)BoliviaNational Archive and Library of Bolivia, Sucre2025 The Emperor's collection: foreign and Brazilian photography in the 19th centuryBrazilFundação Biblioteca Nacional 2003 Network of information and counter information on the military regime in Brazil (1964-1985)BrazilNational Archives of Brazil 2011 Dutch West India Company (Westindische Compagnie) archivesBrazil,Ghana,Netherlands,Guyana,Netherlands Antilles,Suriname,United Kingdom,United StatesAlbany County Hall of Records, Albany, New York Archivo Nashonal (National archives of the Netherlands Antilles) National Archives of Brazil Municipal Archives New York Nationaal Archief Nationaal Archief Surinamee The National Archives-Kew New York State Archives National Archives of Guyana 2011 Architectural Archive of Oscar NiemeyerBrazilFundação Oscar Niemeyer para Fins Culturais, Rio de Janeiro 2013 Documents regarding the Emperor D. Pedro II's journeys in Brazil and abroadBrazilMuseu Imperial 2013 Antonio Carlos Gomes: composer of two worldsBrazil,ItalyArquivo Nacional (AN) - Ministério da Justiça Escola de Música da Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro Fundação Biblioteca Nacional Museu Histórico Nacional Museu Imperial Museu da Universidade Federal do Pará 2017 Fundo Comitê de Defesa dos Direitos Humanos para os Países do Cone Sul (CLAMOR)Brazil,UruguayCentro de Documentação e Informação Científica “Prof. Casemiro dos Reis Filho”, Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo 2015 The War of the Triple Alliance Iconographic and cartographic presentationsBrazil,UruguayBiblioteca Nacional de Uruguay 2015 Collection Educator Paulo FreireBrazilInstituto Paulo Freire, São Paulo 2017 Nise da Silveira Personal ArchiveBrazil 2017 Feminism, science and politics - Bertha Lutz’s legacyBrazilNational Archives of Brazil, Rio de Janeiro Itamaraty Historical Archive, Rio de Janeiro University of Campinas Memory Center – CMU/UNICAMP, Campinas Chamber of Deputies, Brasília 2023 The Ethno-Historical Map by Curt Nimuendaju: a cartographic encyclopedia at the service of languages, cultures, and memories of indigenous peoplesBrazilEmilio Goeldi Museum, Belém 2025 Carlos Chagas ArchiveBrazilInstitution of Carlos Chagas Archive, Rio de Janeiro2025 Human Rights Archive of ChileChileChilean National Archive, Santiago 2003 Jesuits of AmericaChileChilean National Archive, Santiago 2003 Collections of printed Chilean popular poetry: Lira popularChileBiblioteca Nacional de Chile Universidad de Chile 2013 Negros y Esclavos ArchivesColombiaArchivo General de la Nación de Colombia, Bogotá 2005 Abolition of the Army in Costa RicaCosta RicaDirección General del Archivo Nacional, San José 2017 Central American Court of JusticeCosta RicaDirección General del Archivo Nacional, San José 2017 "José Martí Pérez" FondsCubaMarti Study Centre, Havana 2005 Original Negative of the Noticiero ICAIC LationamericanoCubaInstituto Cubano del Arte e Industria Cinematográficos (ICAIC), Havana 2009 Acts of the Havana City council (colonial period 1550-1898)CubaOffice of the Historian of Havana, City Museum, Old Havana 2023 Cuban Movie PostersCubaInstituto Cubano del Arte e Industria Cinematográficos (ICAIC), La Habana Province 2023 Archive Middelburgsche Commercie Compagnie (MCC)Curaçao,Suriname,NetherlandsZeeuws Archief 2011 Documentary heritage of the enslaved people of the Dutch Caribbean and their descendants (1816-1969) - CuraçaoCuraçao, Willemstad 2025 Book for the Baptism of Slaves (1636–1670)Dominican RepublicHistorical Archives of the Archdiocese of Santo Domingo, Santo Domingo 2009 Documentary Heritage on the Resistance and struggle for Human Rights in the Dominican Republic, 1930–1961Dominican RepublicArchives of the Documentation and Reference Center of the Memorial Museum of the Dominican Resistance Documentary Archive of the Attorney General's Office of the Republic Archives of Guillermina Miniño Vda. Puigsubirá Documentary Archive of the Mirabal Sisters Foundation, Mirabal Sisters House Museum Documentary Archives of the Heroes del 30 de Mayo Foundation Documentary Archives of the Foundation Documentary Archives of the Association of Relatives of the Heroes of Cayo Confite and Luperon 2009 The Gaze of the Other: Documentary heritage of the Salesian apostolic vicariate in the Ecuadorian Amazon 1890-1930EcuadorComunidad salesiana, Quito 2015 Ignacio Ellacuría’s Documentary Fond: Historical Reality and LiberationEl SalvadorCuria provincial Jesuitas, Cuscatlán Department 2017 The Florid Recollection, a historical speech and natural, material, military and political account of the Reyno of GuatemalaGuatemalaGeneral Archive of Central America, Guatemala City 2017 Records of the Indian Indentured LabourersGuyana,Suriname,Trinidad and Tobago,FijiThe National Archives of Fiji The National Archives of Guyana National Archives of Suriname National Archives of Trinidad and Tobago 2011 Odette Mennesson Rigaud holdingsHaitiBibliothèque Haïtienne des Pères du Saint-Esprit (BHPSE), Port-au-Prince 2017 Registers identifying enslaved persons in the former French colonies (1666-1880)Haiti,France,GuyanaNational Archives of Haiti, Port-au-prince Archives nationales d'outre-mer, Aix-en-Provence Archives départementales de la Guadeloupe, Basse-Terre Archives territoriales de Guyane, Rémire-Montjoly Archives territoriales de la Martinique, Fort-de-France