Serving since 1974, Gladys Esther Tormes Gonzalez is the longest-serving archivist in the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. In 1970 she became the assistant to Ponce Mayor Juan H. Cintrón working in the Nixon Plan. It was during this time that she became interested in the history of Ponce, “because people came asking about it”. On 15 April 1974, during the administration of Mayor Luis A. “Wito” Morales, she was named Archivera General del Municipio de Ponce (Head Archivist of the Municipality of Ponce). She filled the vacancies left by document administrators Leopoldo Ruiz and Acasio Torres. In the year 2000, Tormes González was the only Puerto Rican invited to participate in a workshop on municipal archives held in Madrid, Spain. She is the co-founder of the "Red de Archivos Históricos de Puerto Rico" (Puerto Rico Historical Archives Network). In addition, she was also a coordinator for the Carnaval Ponceño between 1970 and 1989 and she has held prominent roles in the Unión de Mujeres Americanas (American Women's Union). The Archivo Histórico de Ponce comprises all the documentation generated by the agencies of the municipality of Ponce as well as donations by private citizens. It also contains documentation about other municipalities in Puerto Rico. It is considered “the most complete historical archive in Puerto Rico.” Archivo Histórico has some 100 million archived documents. Among these are letters, maps, brochures, photos, newspaper clippings, full newspaper samples, microfilms, canceled municipal payroll checks, municipal employee files, books, and other similar documents. These are archived in some 300, 000 files. They are archived under the card catalog system. Other documents kept there are the entire registry of slaves, architectural plans, films, soundtracks, and newspapers dating to 1874, as well as city government documents about the founding, history, and evolution of Ponce from the 1812 Municipal Assembly until the present. It operates in a physically and organizationally centralized fashion. The building has some 19,700 square feet of space and is distributed over three levels. Archivo Histórico has 32 employees. Among its employees are 12 professional archivists. Archivo Histórico receives over 18,000 visitors every year, including historians, university professors, legislators, and students from Puerto Rico and abroad. The Archivo has been located in different headquarters through the years. It was originally located at the Ponce City Hall. During the mayoral administration of Luis A. Morales (1973-1976) it was moved to the second floor of Teatro La Perla on 19 June 1975. It subsequently moved to Calle Marina across from Plaza Las Delicias in the facility that for many years held the Felipe Garcia department store. Around 2014 it moved again to the Ponce Servicios building, where it remains today (2018). In 1985, Tormes González was selected as one of the most prominent women in the city of Ponce. Tormes González is also recognized at Ponce's Park of Illustrious Ponce Citizens as one of the distinguished historians of the municipality. In 2017, social scientist and historian Eli D. Oquendo-Rodriguez dedicated to Gladys Esther Tormes González his 249-page documentary on Barrio Playa entitled "A Orillas del Mar Caribe: Historical Sketch of Ponce Beach, from its First Inhabitants to Early 20th Century".

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