In 1992, curator Marvette Pérez contacted Puerto Rican collector Teodoro Vidal Santoni after learning that he was interested in donating his extensive collection of Puerto Rican material culture. In 1997, after several visits and conversations over the course of five years, Mr. Vidal agreed to donate his entire collection to the National Museum of American History. This became one of the largest gifts by an individual to the Museum. One of the most important collections of Puerto Rican material culture in the world, it consists of more than 3,200 objects which date from the 17th to the 20th centuries.
