Guest Writer: Grace Tillinghast
George Eastman founded Eastman Kodak Company in Rochester, NY in 1880. Because he understood that he had to expand his enterprise and make photography accessible to everyone, he immediately decided to branch out and established branches in England and France. And soon after, in the 1890s, as his new photographic venture was taking hold in the US, Canada and Europe, he hired a Puerto Rican gentleman named Domingo Delgado.
Mr. Delgado set out to demonstrate and interest people in photography and traveled all over Central and South America and the Caribbean islands. He not only explained the magic of capturing and processing images but he also provided the information in the language of his audiences.
He was tireless and traveled by boat, train, canoe and mule and reached all the corners of the hemisphere. The end result of his many years of dedication to Kodak and its brand was the establishment of branches in Argentina (being Kodak Argentina the first one), followed by Kodak Habana, Kodak Panama, Kodak Colombia, Kodak Chilena, Kodak Mexicana and Kodak Peruana. In other countries, he worked with dealers who would represent the company exclusively and did so for many decades.
Domingo Delgado is, without doubt, the first well known Hispanic business person in the area, and one who wrote a very important chapter in the history of a great multinational American company.
Photo source: http://www.kodakcollector.nl
