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Archives at Cornell

Street gang related artwork, snapshots, and correspondence

 Collection
Identifier: 8169

Content Description

Collection documents Flores’s personal correspondence, artistic expression, and affiliation with street gangs, dating ca. 1993–1996. It contains a 34-leaf sketchbook featuring graffiti artwork, 20 color snapshots of street art, approximately 25 autograph letters signed (ALS), 3 issues of Teen Angles magazine, 19 tracing paper leaves of pencil sketches, 3 original pencil and ink drawings, a party flyer, photocopied materials and mailing envelopes. The collection offers a view into the experiences of a Latino gang member from the San Gabriel Valley, California, including prison life, gang identity, and street art culture. Letters written from various California state prisons include firsthand accounts of incarceration, gang dynamics, and social commentary from fellow gang members. Correspondence contains some explicit and racist language.

Dates

  • 1993 - 1996

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Restricted due to the presence of personal information until until after the demise of the individuals included in the collection; Access to Box 1, Folder 6 is restricted due to the presence of personal information.

Conditions Governing Use

Once collection is open, researchers may not cite or disclose the legal/government name of the creator, as discernable in some collection documents, until 2060.

Biographical / Historical

Bam Bam Flores (b.1969) is from a suburb of California's San Gabriel Valley.

Extent

.3 cubic feet.

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

Materials compiled and created by Bam Bam Flores (b.1969) documenting activities during his early adulthood in Los Angeles County and surrounding areas from approximately 1993 to 1996. The collection is comprised of graffiti artwork, photographs, magazines, ephemera, and correspondence referencing gang life, exchanged during a period of incarceration.

Author
ATS Staff
Date
November 2025
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections Repository

Contact:
2B Carl A. Kroch Library
Cornell University
Ithaca NY 14853
607-255-3530
607-255-9524 (Fax)