Photo, Print, Drawing Searching for Diamonds.
About this Item
Title
- Searching for Diamonds.
Summary
- This photograph shows three porkknockers in the interior of Guyana. A porkknocker is a Guyanese prospector and miner who extracts and processes gold and diamonds using simple methods. These rugged individualists have been responsible for some of the great discoveries of gold and diamonds in Guyana's interior. There are many stories of porkknockers who struck it rich, but then spent their fortunes in ways both tragic and comic. The photograph is from the collection of the Columbus Memorial Library of the Organization of American States (OAS), which includes 45,000 photographs illustrative of life and culture in the Americas. Many of the photographs were taken by prominent photographers on OAS missions to member countries. The OAS was established in April 1948 when 21 countries of the western hemisphere adopted the OAS Charter, in which they reaffirmed their commitment to the pursuit of common goals and respect for each other's sovereignty. Since then, the OAS has expanded to include the countries of the English-speaking Caribbean as well as Canada. The predecessor organization to the OAS was the Pan American Union, founded in 1910, which in turn grew out of the International Union of American Republics, established at the First International Conference of American States in 1889-90.
Created / Published
- Guyana : Guyana Information Service, 1978.
Headings
- - Guyana
- - 1978
- - Diamond miners
- - Gold miners
- - Mines and mineral resources
- - Mining camps
- - Porkknockers
Notes
- - Title devised, in English, by Library staff.
- - Original resource extent: 8 x 10 inches; black and white photograph.
- - Original resource at: Columbus Memorial Library, Organization of American States.
- - Description based on data extracted from World Digital Library, which may be extracted from partner institutions.
Medium
- 1 online resource.
Source Collection
- Columbus Memorial Library (OAS) Photograph Collection
Digital Id
Library of Congress Control Number
- 2021669790
Online Format
- compressed data
- image