I am Puerto Rico (1952) by La Colección Puertorriqueña

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PREPARED BY

THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION SAN JUAN. PUERTO RICO

DRAWINGS BY

JOSE MELENDEZ CONTRERAS

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ACKNGWLEDGEMENTS

The Department of Education ücknoivledges with Qppreciotion the cooperation of Mr. Rafael Torres Mazorana of the Economic Developrnent Ádministration fot his help with the statistics and graphs; to Lt. Héctor Piñeiro of the Public Relations Office of the Antilles Com-

mand, Fort Erooke, San Juan, for the photographs on page 19; to the American Book Company for permission to use "El coqui" from "Puerto Rican Singer" by Muñoz and Pastor and to Mrs. Ida Gallardo for the

English translation; to the Photographic Laboratory of the Department of Education for the remaining photographs of the book; and to alí the staff of the Central Office who made this book possible.

universidad pe PUERTO RICO ADQuí^tc'í'oNES-DONATIVOS' 01 MAY m Published by department of education PRESS San Juan, Puerto Rico

to OÜRFR15NDSAND F£llO¥/ CrnZENS IN CONTINENTAL UNITED STATE

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Wattert R. Austin, U. S. Ambassador in the United

Nations, addressing the Legislatute of Puerto Rico on

February 6. ยก950, said, "When I see what you are doing here, I am tempted to declare that, if all the peoples of the world will face their problerns in the spirit in which you are facing yours, the solution of the problerns of the world will be in sight."

WHY THIS BOOKLET

MAD RIVER SCHOOLS

Westville, Ohio March4. 1952

Educational Bureau San Juan, Puerto Rico Dear Sirs:

I am in the seventh grade- at Westville School and have the assignment to report on Puerto Rico. I would appr^aate any leaflets or pamplets you could send me for the assign ment.

Yours truly, Nelson Faulkner R. R. No. 4 Urbana, Ohio

1124 Sunset Lañe

Muskegon, Michigan March 25, 1952

Commissioner of Education San Juan, Puerto Rico Dear Sirs:

I would appreciate it very much if you would send me some mformation about your country. I am a student in Hile school in Muskegon Michigan in the Uníted States and I am studying about the Spanish American countries.

I am especially mterested in having pamphlets with pictures that 1 can put into a scrapbook I am making.

I am going to study Spanish when I get into high school. If you know any chddren who would like to write to me, I

would hke very much to hear from them. My teacher speaks

Spanish and will transíate any letters I get.

I am 13 years oíd and in seventh grade. I like to study

about other American countries and I hope I will be able to travel to your country someday. í

■

I thank you for anything you can send me. i

Sincerely yours,

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Miss Janice Muntíngton

Brighton 35, Mass. March 12. 1952. Dear Sir:

I am a studcnt at Girl's Boston LatĂn School in Boston,

Massa chusetts. We are going to start studying your fair

country. Would you be kind enough to send me a booklet

or pictures or anything else possible. I sent away to other countries and I got wonderful response. I hope you will do the same. I am depending on it for my projects. Thank you, Sincerely yours, Marlene Gordon

California, Pa.

November 27, 1951 Dear Sir,

Will you please send me (free) any material that would

be helpful in teaching a unĂt on Puerto Rico. Thank you,

W. S. Mc.Carty 102 Greene

C.S.T.C.

Sand Springs, Okla. January 7, 1952 Mariano Villaronga Commissioner of Education San Juan, Puerto Rico Dear Sir:

In our social studies class wc are studying your country. Do you have any complimentary copies of the history of your country? If so we would appreciate your sending us a copy for our library.

Yours truly, Phillip Castrón Garfield School

The above letters are only a sample of the many we are receíving every month from all the 48 States. Some are from students, others from teachers. The reasons for asking ínformation are various — for social studies, agricultural studies, sociological studies, or for travel.

Recognizíng this interest of our fellow citizens on the continent, we havc prepared this booklet. We hope it will help to answer your questions, Most of all we hope it will make us better friends as

you come to know us better. And we are, as our oftenheard phrase goes, "Siempre a sus órdenes ■— always at your service!"

4 \

LIVE

on a tropical island cooled by the trade ivinds

Puerto Rico, the smallest and easternmost Ăsland of the Greater Antilles, forms part of the northern rim of the Carib-

bean Sea. It is bound on the north and east by the Atlantic Ocean, on the south by the CarĂbbean Sea and on the west

by Mona Passage. It lies approximately 1600 miles south and east of New York and 1000 miles east and south of Miami.

HE ISLAND,

an almost perfect rectangle IQO miles long by 35 miles wide, is about 3,435 square miles in area. It is smaller than all states except Rhode Island. The Island is a mountain crest, volcanic in origin, and

is probably the most mountainous in the South Atlantic. Two mountain ranges, Sierra de Luquillo and the Cordillera Central, cross the Island from east to west. The submerged

mountain chain of which Puerto Rico is a part would be the highest in the world if it were above sea level, rather than resting on the bottom of the ocean.

Our Island is a delightful place in which to live. We have a warm climate which is always comfortable becausc

of the cooling winds. The average temperature during winter months is about 73.7T. Mountain towns, easily reached by car, average temperature five to ten degrees lower

than the coast. Ocean breezes cool the coastal plains by

day. At night a cool land breeze usually blows from the mountains.

Rainfall is fairly well distributed throughout the year,

with no clearly defined rainy seasons. Along the coast the rain generally comes in sudden, sharp showers followed unmediately by bright sunshine. It is not uncommon to w^alk

along in a shower while, all about, the sun shines undĂmmed.

There are few days in Puerto Rico when the sun fails to shine. Puerto Rico is located in the hurricane zone and has

occasionally suffered severe storms. The Island, howevcr, has had fewer hurricanes in reccnt years than Florida and the eastern coast of the United States.

Puerto Rico is one of the most healthful areas in the

Western Hemisphere.

E ENJOY spting throughout the year

Puerto Rico is a tropical island and as such has no tnarked changes in seasons. Our plants and animals are not affecteci very much by climatic changes as they are in the States.

We have flowers, green grass and trees all the year round. There is none of the gorgeous. fall coloring that sets the Stateside landscape aflame, Ăąor do our plants and trees lose their leaves in autumn. Our bright colors come in the spring

when the West Indian almond begins to get its new leaves. These are rich red and visitors often thĂnk they are the falliug leaves, rather than the new ones.

Animals do not hibernate, for we have no cold wcather.

Our bird population fluctuates a great deal because many o

your birds spend the winter with us, like winter

guests. There are also year-round birds native to the IslĂĄn

thrushes, orioles, grosbeaks and humming birds. One o

the most common is the reinita or Porto Rican honey

that loves sugar and will fly right into the house to eat gtai

of sugar fallen on the table. Many people keep small dishes of sugar in the windows to attract the reinitas.

We have varied vegetation due to differences in soil, rain-

fall and topography. There are tall trees with green leaves and thick trunks on the northern and eastern sides of the Island where rainfall is fairly heavy and small trees with small leaves and thín trunks on the southern and western

sides where rain is scant. We cannot determine the age of our trees by annual rings, as you do, for our trees develop two or more rings a year.

Mangrove trees grow in low, swampy coastal areas all around the Island. They form almost impenetrable groves. We have almost no forests, for the original forests were cut down years ago for building purposes and to make char-

coal. There are frequent wood lots high up on the mountains, but most of these are second growth. soft woods. The few hardwood stands we have are stocked with valuable and rare

timber trees like nutmeg or nuez moscada, laurel, aceitillo, or West Indian satín wood, capá prieto or Spanish elm, cedro hembra or Spanish cedar, guayacán or lignum vitae and tabonuco or candle tree.

These hardwoods make good furniture because of their

beauty and natural resistance to termites and polilla, a kind of moth that eats soft woods.

The trees on the south and west sides of the Island are mostly different varieties of

cacti and almácigos or turpen-

tine trees. This región looks somewhat like the arid regions of Arizona and Texas.

Our most interesting forest is the Caribbean National

Forest, near the town of Luquillo. This is a rain forest

located on the next highest mountain range of the Island

and from its highest peak. Sugar cañe in bloom

El Yunque (The Anvíl), we can see almost the entire eastern part of the Island. The tall trees, mpst of them hardwoods, shade the lower growth to form a natural hot house. Below the shady cover are colored air plants, delicate orchíds, candle plants, wild begonias, mallows, sensitive plants of diffcrent varieties, sultanas and ferns. The tall tree ferns and the flock of native wild parrots add a further exotic touch.

El Yunque, as the forest is commonly called, is a favoritc recr.eational center for all the eastern and northern parts of the Island. There are two swimming pools fed by springs, picnic sites, beautiful foot paths. Cabins may be rented for overnight or longer stays. The whole area is a naturalist's paradise. Puerto Rico has many flowering trees that add vivid color to the landscape — the flamboyán or fíame tree, the bucare, African tulip tree and roble — with their red, orange and lavenderish pink flowers. We have almost no wild fauna, no crocodiles, no alligators, no lions or venomous snakes. Our wild Ufe is different kinds of lizards, birds and insects. A favorite of all Puerto Ricans is a little tree frog, the

caqui or Porto Rican common

frog. During the whole night its peculiarly shrill song can be heard all over the Island — co-quí,

co-quí, co-quí (co-kee). ly to crops rather than to people, Our insects are harmful most-

even though some look quite

dangerous. One pajticularly large spider is called araña boba or silly spider because it looks so fierce and is so harmless.

Off the north and west coast are coral reefs with beautiful ma rine life. Through glass-bottom

boats, swimming goggles or similar equipment sea horses, sea cows, sea cucumbers, many kinds of crabs, fish in all colors ot the rainbow, sea porcupines, as well as all kinds of corรกis, may be seen on the ocean floor.

^ On dark nights the flying fish and other sea life in the phosphorescpt Parguera Bay on the southwestern coast provide a display that outrivals Fourth of July fireworks. 1 he bay is landlocked and has an unusually large supply or plankton which gives the phosphorescence to the water.

Since w^ cannot describe adequately all the beauty of our Island, we hope you 11 come to visit us sometime and see for yourselves.

Because we love our Island and are proud of its beauty we

are alwa^ys glad to have people visit us. Perhaps you, as thรณusands of other people from the continental United States

have done, will like us so well you will want to make this your home.

Tree ferns in the Cacibbean National Park

EL COQUI Muñoz-Pastor

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UR ISLAND is rich

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Spain was excíted.

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Christopher Columbus

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had returned with In-

dians, parrots, strange

fruits and some gold

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from what was a New World. He told about new islands he had discovered. Forty men had to be left on one of these islands because one of bis three tiny ships had been lost on that fabulous first voyage. Columbus wanted to return at once for bis men. Seven-

teen ships sailed September 25, 1943, on Columbus' second voyage to the New World. On November 19 of this second trip, Columbus and bis men saw an island the Indians called "Boriquén." Several ships stopped at a natural harbor to get water. Columbus and a group of men went ashore to claim the land for Spain. They named it San Juan Bautista (Saint John the Baptist). In 1508 Juan Ponce de León and fifty men began the

conquest and colonization of San Juan Bautista. The first town, Caparra, was built near present San Juan, on the opposite side of the harbor. Its ruins can still be seen as we go from San Juan to Bayamón. Ponce de León's men, however, did not like the location.

The town was finally moved in 1521 to a small rocky island

just off the coast which was called Puerto Rico (Rich Harbor) because of its excellent harbor.

As years passed the ñames of the two islands were changed about, so that the small island is called San Juan and has

become the capital of the large island which is now Puerto Rico.

Other towns were soon built about the main island where

good, natural harbors and fresh drinking water were available. A settlement named Aguada was made on the western coast by 15 10. Two years later it was burned and the village reestablished on the northern coast.

Because Puerto Rico was a strategic point along the route

of Spain's gold and silver ladened ships, it was frequently attacked by pirates and ships of other countries. San Germán, for example, was destroyed by the French in 1528. -

Soon after moving from Caparra to the present island ot San Juan in 1521, the Spanish began building the famous

El Morro Castle fortress. It was not completed for almost two hundred and fifty years. Its thick walls are still m

Reac uiew of La Fortaleza, looking towacd the barbar

good condition. Many prisoners worked on those walls.

The present governor's offícial residence — La Fortaleza or The Fortress — was built between 1533 and 1540.

A wall encircling the northern tip of the small island was also built.

Funds were

furnished by the Spanísh Government from their Mexican revenue, as Puerto Rico was

too poor to pay for these massive constructions.

Sir Francís Drake attacked Puerto Rico ín 1595 and was

driven off.

The English returned in 1598, however, and

captured the Island for five months, after which they had to leave because of sickness. Other English attacks were in 1702 on the east coast.

The Dutch sacked and burned San Juan in 1625 but were finally driven off.

The city of San Juan had two hundred and fifty strongly built houses with walls at least two feet thick and a hundred

huts of wood with thatched roofing by the end of the 17th century. It also had several churches. A century and a half after its founding. 1673, San Juan had 1,800 inhabitants. Sugar cañe was brought to the Island from Santo

Domingo in 1532 and planted near the village of Añasco. Indians at first worked the fields but they could not stand the heavy labor and died. brought in.

African slaves were then

In 1 755 a few coffee trees were brought from Marti-

nique. Coffee cultivation, begun then, became a very important source of income under the Spanish.

Puerto Rico's development during the 18th century was slow. Plans were made to take over the two Virgin Islands of Saint Thomas and Saint Croix, but this idea was later

dropped as inadvísable.

During the American Revolution two small American shíps, armed by the new government to prey on British ships, were chased by an English warship. The two American vessels took refuge in the harbor of Mayagüez at the western end of the Island. Citizens of that town helped the crews

escape ashore and raised the Spanish flag over the ships. The English commander protested the action but the Spanish governor supported the Mayagüez citizens. The commander had to sail away empty-handed.

The 19th century revolutionary movements in Latin América found little response in Puerto Rico during the first half century.

The Island continued under governors

appointed in Spain, subject to the frequent changes in political affairs in the mother country. In 1866 a group of Puerto Ricans went to Madrid to ask for the more liberal

government which had been promised in 1837 and nevcr granted. Finally, after a long, persistent struggle by the Puerto Ricans, Spain granted them a liberal autonomy toward the cióse of 1897.

Slavery was abolished in Puerto Rico in 1873 by law without struggle or oposition, ten years after it was abolished

the

United

States. The Spanish govern ment paid the owners for the loss of their slaves.

In April 1898 the United

States declared war on Spain and American troops landed July 25 at Guánica, a small town on the south coast.

San Juan was occupied October 18. The Treaty of Paris, signed by Spain and the United States in December, ceded Puerto Rico to the United States.

Cultivating young sugar cañe

For the first two years of American occupation the Island was under military government. At the request of the Puerto Ricans, Congress passed the Foraker Act in 1900 re-

establishíng civil government. A civil governor was appointed in 1901.

„ y?. Ch^ch had been thethe American occupation the Román Catholic only recognized religious body, although a Church of England congregation had been or-

gamzed in lonce in 1864 by special permission of the King of Spam. Queen Victoria had requested it because she was concerned over the religious Ufe of British subiects living in Puerto Rico.

Under the American tradition of religious freedom, the Protestant denominations began míssionary work all over the Island immedíately after the Uníted States took over. yarious schools and hospitals were established. The Catholic church still remains the largest, but there are now Pro testant churches. All, Román Catholic or Protestant, hold services m hpanish. Some. like the Saint Augustine Catholic Church and the Saint John's Episcopal Cathedral, use both languages and Unión Church services are entírely in EngHsh. The Universíty of Puerto Rico, at first a small normal school to train teachers for the newly established public

schools, was founded in 1903 in Fajardo and later transfered

to Río Piedras where it now has over 7,000 students. Puerto Ricans became citizens of the United States under the Jones Act of 1917.

Many Puerto Ricans joined the Army and Navy or were drafted during World War I and fought bravely. During World War II about 75,000 Puerto Ricans served and

fought in Europe and the Pacifíc. Now our 65th Infantry

Kegiment is performing gallantly in Korea.

From tl^ appointment of the first civil governor in 1901 untíl 1946 i uerto Riy> had been under continental American governors appointed by the President. On July 25. 1946, Jesús T.

^ native born Puerto Rican, was appoint-

ed governor by i resident Truman. He was succeeded by the

3rd. U. S. INFANTRY DIVISION IN KOREA — Puerto Ricans Can Take Cold Weather — Sergeant First Class Angel L. Montañez, from San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico, membcr of Company E 65th Infantry shaving undcr subzcro

temperatures while in a rest camp last winter.

Phoio U.S. ARMY

Col. WilHam W. Harrís (L) CO 65th Inf. Rct. 3d Inf.

Div. prcscnts Bronzc Star

Mcdal, awarded for giving aid to woundcd mcn whllc

under heavy enemy fire at Kumchon, Korea 22 Oct.

1950, to Sgt. Fernández Carabailo, Puerto Rico, Med.

Co. 65th Inf. Rct. during cercmonics held ncar Kacsongdong, Korea. 12 Fcb. 51.

present governor, Luis Muñoz Marín, on January 2, 1949, the first governor to be elected by the people of Puerto Rico.

Now we have our own Constitution, written by a popularly elected Constitutional Convention and accepted by popular referendum. It was approved by Congress July 1, 1952 and signed by the President July 3, 1932.

Congress, in giving Puerto Ricans this opportunity, left the Island a free hand except the provisión that the constitu tion must have a "Bill of Rights" guaranteeing freedom of assembly, of speech and of religión and that its form of government shall be republican. Within fifty years of American influencc ín Puerto Rico we have obtained more politícal freedom that in four centuries of Spanish domain.

The Governor casts his ballet along with thousands of other citizem,

HIS IS our offĂcial sed

w. coat of arms. It was given to the Island in the year 1511

by Ferdinand and Isabella, the Catholic sovereigns of Spain.

The center is a round shield, light green in color, with a silver lamb resting on a red book. The lamb carries a flag

wíth a cross and a white banner as seen in the devices of Saint John the Baptist. There are also the initíals F and I surmounted by gold crowns, a yoke above a cluster of arrows

and a motto reading: "Joannes est nomen ejus," In the white border there are two castles, two red lions, two banners and two Jerusalem crosses.

The silver lamb of Saint John stands for peace. The hook on which the lamb rests represents the Bible. The white banner stands for peace among men. The initials F

and 1, each with its crown, represent Ferdinand and Isabel,

and the yoke, their unión. The cluster of arrows is suplates:

John is his ñame.

motto trans-

The lamb and motto are used because the whole island was ongmally called San Juan Bautista or Saint John the ííaptist.

In the border symbols the red lions represent León, the

proyince of which Ferdinand was king. and the castles

Castile, of which Isabella was queen. The crosses show Spams conquest of the Moors. The banners contain the

emblems of León, (two lions rampant). of Castile (two castles), of the Royal Houses of Aragón and Sicily (four gold bars on a red field with two black eagles superimposed)

and Granada (an open pomagranate).

E ARE the crosstoads of

tivo ways of Ufe

"You offet here the example of an effective democracy in action in a rural community of predominantly Latín speech, and you offer an illuminating picture of the successful CO' existence of the two cultural streams — the Anglo Saxon

and the Spanísh — each tolerant of and helpful to the othet,

preserving and developing a nationaí Ufe according to the wishes of the inhabitants." — Warren R. Austin

We want you to know us.

We are over two

inhabitants Hving on a small island bordering the Caribbean Sea, soútheast of Florida.

This is a very friendiy island. Because it is so small we

are almost like a large family. The majority of our people are vivacious, hard-working, peace-loving and democratic.^ We are mostly of Spanish descent. We were a Spanisn

possession for 405 years from 1493 to 1898, when Spam ceded Puerto Rico to the United States. Our vernacular

language is Spanish, although English is taught in all grades of the public schools and in the University. Many oí our people are bilingual.

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Most of our customs, language, religión and amuscments

are inherited from our Spanish ancestors, the greater part of whom carne from sunny Andalusia, the beautiful and poetic province of southern Spain. One of the most interesting heritages of Spanish life is the Insular Lottery, the only legal lottery in the United States

and possessíons. Drawings are held weekly and twice a year, on July 4th and December 22nd, there is a special lottery with much larger prizes than the weekly ones.

Cockfighting is another popular pastime left over from

Spanish days. Men patiently and carefully train their beauti ful cocks for the matches. Large sums of money are sometimes bet on the fighters.

The danza and the seis are typical dances of Puerto Rico

originating in the Island. Perhaps some of you have heard Jesús M. Sanromá play his arrangements of some of the danzas. The seis is not danced in our night clubs, but it is still very popular in the country.

The country people of the hills keep the oíd customs more than the town people. There we still find the velorio or wake where parents, relatives and friends of a dead person spend the night praying for the soul of the deceased. Coffee and crackers with

cheese, cigars, cigarettcs and other drinks are servcd to

thosc present so that they may stay at the home for a longer time. We still like our traditional foods. Roast pig or lechón asado is a favorite.

After the pig has been seasoned with sált. pepper

and spices, a pole is stuck lengthwise through the ani mal.

It is then turned

slowly over an open fire outdoors untíl it is

well cooked ínside and crispy brown outside. Most continental Amcricans like it too.

In place of potatoes as a basic dish ín our

diet, we have rice which is usually served twice a day with red beans, chick peas or some other kind of peas or beans. Most of our

foods are fried or boiled because the majority of our bornes are not equipped with pvens. Our bread is like what you cali French bread, baked in long, narrow loaves. Of course, for sandwiches we have the same type of bread as you.

M.uch of our social life is tied up with our religión: Christmas, Three Kings Day (the Wise Men), Easter, weddings, christenmgs, religious processions and local saint day celebrations.

Each town, or sometimes a section of a town, has its patrón saint. For a week or

two prior to that particular saint's day there is a fiesta with merry-go-rounds and other

carnival amusement machines going all day and most of the night in the town square or plaza. At night there are dances and parties. On the last day of the patron's festival there

are special masses in the church and a long procession through the streets with a large image of the saint at its head. The images are so heavy that groups of men take turns carrying them. Our Christmas is both Spanish and American with decorated trees and Santa Clauses

in the schoolrooms, the big stores and in many of our homes, along with the wellloved manger scenes or nacimientos. Puerto Rican children find the Christmas season more

profitable than thc Statesidc children, because here they re-

ccive prcsents both on Christmas Day from Santa Claus and on January 6th, Twelfth Night or Epiphany, from the Three Kings. In our manger scenes the Three Kings or the Wise Men are more ímportant than in your manger scenes, for the Three Kings in Span-

ish tradition bring the Christ-

Devout Catholics carry their banners and images

mas presents.

throngh the streets of Bayamón

The evening of January 5th the children place boxes of fresh grass and saucers of corn under the beds for the camels of the Three Wise Men. Next morning they expcct to find thc grass and corn gone and in their place candy and toys. This tradition is based on the biblical story of the visit of the Three Wise Men to the Christ Child with gifts for him. Another oíd tradition of Christmas are the parrandas or

trullas, something like your carolers. A group of people with musicians playing typical instruments such as the guitar, a mandolin-like instrument called the cuatro, a long serrated

gourd called a güícharo, maracas and perhaps an accordion, go from house to house playing and singing aguinaldos ot Spanish Christmas carols. (The güícharo is scraped with a wire fork, or even a hair pin, to produce percussion.) Sometimes the group sings a décima or improvisation with the guitar accompaniment. This extemporaneous song

may not always be Christmas but tell of some recent news

event. a love affarr or a Bible story. One person sings the stanza and the others sing the chorus.

Thc parranda is invited into each house and served traditional Christmas dishes: arroz con dulce (rice pudding).

longanizas, butifarras, and morcillas (three kinds of sausages), pasteles and lechán asado. The host and hostess expect the guests to eat heartily.

Among the country people, and most of us live ín the

country, this parranda custom is carefully observed. It may take the host and hostess a long time to pay back the money borrowed to cover the expenses of this hospitality. But it

is Christmas. One must maintain the traditional hospitality of the Puerto Rican home.

Town people, with their small apartments and houses, frequently give money rather than food to the' groups that come singing.

The following is an English versión of a Puerto Rican aguinaldo "widely sung in the Island:

Ready to play for the agui naldos. Instruments are, ¡eft to right: cuatro, guitar, maracas and güícharo.

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Along with the Spanish customs and amiisements wc

have described above, we enjóy many of the same sports and amusements as you. Baseball, movies, radio and dancing are most popular.

Our baseball season lasts from October to February. We have_ five good professional teams, with some players playing in your major and minor leagues during the summer. Some of your major league players play here or manage our teams. Everybody from pre-school age to grandparents is a

4 I

baseball fan,

1950-51

the Insular

baseball

champion was the Santurce Baseball Team or Cangrejos (Crabs), which was sent to represent us in the -Caribbean

Confederation and returned as champions

of the Confederation.

Other sports are swimming, fishing, horseback-riding, small plañe flying and sailing. We have some fine tennis courts,

No discomfort is too gceat luhen there's a good ball game to be seen.

also. We can swim the year around here, either on the open beaches or in well equipped pools. We have sent athletes to the Olympic Games. Regularly we particípate successfully in the Inter-American athletic meets.

Nearly cvery town of any size has its movie theater, with more than thirty in San Juan. We have the advantage of secing all the Hollywood films as well as most of the Spanish, Mexican and Argentine films. Several of the San Juan theaters are first run houses where we see the new movies with-

out delay. Fun on Luquillo beach, a feiv miles from San Juan

■ '-.i

There are radio stations scattered all over the Island. The largest are located, of course, in San Juan. These are

under the same regulations of the Federal Communicatíons Commission as the radio stations in continental United States.

They broadcast all kinds of programs, just as do your favorite stations. Again we have an advantage in that we hear all your latest music and that from the other Latin American countries.

We dance the same dances as you in our níght clubs and homes, to the same music. Also we enjoy the Cuban boleros and tumbas played by our own or Cuban orchestras. Some of our most popular organizations have come to US from you: Girl and Boy Scouts, Future Farmers and Future Homemakers of América, Yóung Men's and Young Women's Christian Associations, Four-H Clubs, Rotary and

Lions Clubs, etc. We are very active in these, doing very much the same things as you. You have frequently seen our Puerto Rican movie and stage actors José Ferrer and Juano Hernández.

We hope

you have had the pleasure of hearing our famous pianist Jesús M. Sanromá, our soprano coloratura Graciela Rivera, our bassoon player Angel del Busto and our violinist Pepito Figueroa. Rafael Hernández is famous for his popular songs wherever Latin American music is enjoyed. We have an active and talented group of young artists working in oils, water colors and other media.

Palés Matos has made a ñame for himself with his lyric poetry on modern negro themes. Others who have distin-

guished themselves in the fine arts are Oller, Campeche, Morell Campos, de Hostos, de Diego, Ramón Frade and Miguel Pou.

More and more we are becoming the place where Spanish and American cüstoms and culture meet. We believe we are

combining the best of each in a way that will make closer friendship between the United States and Latin América a wonderful fact.

OST OF our people live on the land, but We are so many people on so littie land

We have oniy 2,200,000 acres of land and as many people witb an annual net population increase of over 40,000. Of that atea only 1,000,000 acres are suitable for cultivation. So, it is easíly seen that our Island haS labor resources for

and needs an industrial economy while living under an agricultural one.

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Agrículture is our principal occupation and our most important source of income. Sugar is our leading crop. We

also raise tobáceo, pineapples, coconuts, cotton, coffce and food crops.

Agriculturc alone cannot support our rapidly increasing population. An cncouraging effort is being made by our government to create industrial sources of wealth.

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We are part of the poUtícal and economic system of the United States.

Our trade ís almost entirely with continental United States. As part of the United States, we have access to the

United States market on a duty free hasis. Puerto Rico's

leading exports are sugar, rum and alcohol. We also export needlework, tobáceo, fruits and, recently, some manufactured articles.

We import food-stuffs, textiles, wood, paper, minerals, metáis, manufactures, machinery, vehicles and chemicals. We are one of Unele Sam's best customers. In 1951 we spent over $400,000,000 for food, clothing, building materials, automobiles and many other products of the farms and factories on the continent.

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JAOUS

f950'1951 «

Puerto Rico is looking towacd an industrial futura.

The Govemment of Puerto Rico has taken the initiative

m the industrial development of the Island. To encourage and promote industrialization it has created the Economic

Development Administration and the Govemment Develop ment Bank. Also we have laws to encourage new industries from outside the Island.

To prepare and facilĂtate plans for the necessary construction and expansiĂłn we have the Planning, Urbanizing and Zoning Board.

Though our govemment emphasizes the need for indus trialization, it does not forget the land. We have the Land Authority which is concerned with the better use and distribution of the land and the Water Resources Authority

which provides irrigation facilities as well as hydroelectric

power to speed up the industrial development. To finance this vast program our govemment utilizes the income derived from taxation such as excise taxes, income

tax and property tax. It also receives a helping hand from the Federal Govemment in contributions as grants-in-aid and refunds on certain federal taxes.

kV-!j, r.^íía^;:

Tbe Water Side of Dos Bocas Dam mar Utuado, Puerto Rico.

5Ífí''.'^>íriC:¿

We ave moving fovwavd ivíth hope and couvage.

We are faced by very difficult economic and social pro-

blems: overpopulation, health, housing, sanitation, educatíon and recreation. In spíte of these we are working unremittingly to give all our people higher standards of living and to improve our economic and social conditions. There has been grcat improvement in all these fields, we are proud to say. With the help we have reccivcd and are receiving from the Federal Government and with our own efforts we know that we shall show cven more improvement in the futurc.

That we have made great progress is clearly shown by UN Ambassador Austin's speech to the Insular Legislature (1950) in which he said; "The initiative taken by youv Insular Government to contribute what this island has to offer for the constructive

development of the Point Four Program gíves hope that your experience heve will have a salutary impact on the problems of areas in the world at large."

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We have developed a modetn system of communications and transportation.

Our communication and transportation systems have improved very much in recent years. Puerto Rico's population and,goods now move maínly by automobile and truck. We have a road system that is a real accomplishment both in extent and quality.

Through prívate enterprise there is passenger and freight ■ transportation to even the most remote areas in the moun-

tains. The Transportation Authority has a good metropolitan bus service in the San Juan area. Puerto Rico has good ocean and air service. Our ports are visited by ships from all over the world. Resides the

privately owñed and operated piers, the Transportation Authority also has a large pier in San Juan. The Transportation Authority manages the large Isla Grande International Airport overlooking the San Juan harbor. There is under construction, with Federal cooperation,

an immense new international airport on the outskirts of San Juan to replace the Isla Grande airport that is becoming inadequate because of the constantly increasing passenger and freight air traffic. We are within a few minutes of any part of the Island or the world through our communications systems. Our

postal service is under the United States Post Office Depart-

ment. There are two telephone systems. one privately owned by a subsidiary of the International Telephone and

Teleeraph and the other operated by the Communication

Authority, which also has the Insular telegraph system.

Cable service to all parts of the world and connectĂng with leading telegraph systems is offered by prĂvate corporations. These same companies also give us inter-continent

and ship-to-shore radio services.

27t9J9'^ f945'46

xfTxB

United Nations Ambassadot Warren Austin addresses the

Puerto Rican Legislature and other governmental officials

UR GOVERNMENT is democratic

The Island of Puerto Rico was dĂscovered by Christopher

Columbus in 1493. Colonization began in 1508. From that date until the Spanish American War in 1898 the Island was a Spanish colony under governors appointed by Spain.

At the ciĂłse of the war Spain ceded Puerto Rico to the United States.

In 1900 Congress passed the Foraker Act granting Puerto Rico a civil government. Under the provisions of this law the governor of the Island and the heads of the various gov-

ernmental departments were appointed by the President with the advice and consent of Congress. A two-house legislature,

consisting of an Executive Council and a Legislative Assembly, was also provided for. Most of the government officials were Americans. Puerto Ricans were citizens of Puerto Rico, not of the United States,

and had no way of becoming American citizens, although they were entitled to the protection of the United States. At last, on March 2, 1917, Congress passed the Jones

Act which granted Puerto Ricans American citizenship and provided for a more liberal civil government. This law has been amended several times since then to provide a more and more liberal form of government.

The most significant amendment is the Elective Gov ernor Act approved in 1947 which provides for election by

popular vote of Puerto Rico's governor. The Honorable Luis Muñoz Marín, now serving, was the first popularly elected governor. He took office January 1, 1949.

At the request of Puerto Rico, Congress passed a law m July 1950 recognizing the right of Puerto Rico to draft its own constitution, if we so desired. This matter was submitted on June 4, 1951, to the electorate and approved by a large majority.

A popularly elected Constitutional Convention drafted our Constitution, a task

that required six months of concentrated work with each point discussed care-

fully. In the Constitu tional referendum, March 3. 1952, the electorate ac-

cepted the work of the Convention by a large ma

jority. Congress approved

The Capítol, where the Legislature meets

the Constitution July 1, 1952 and President Truman signed it July 3, 1952.

Our present republican government consists of three

branches as ín the United States: the Executive, the Legislatíve and the Judiciary. The Executive branch consists of the Governor and the

heads of the departments. The Governor has veto power. He also appoints departmental heads with the ádvice and consent of the Senate.

The Legislative branch consists of the two chambers as in the Congress of the United States. They are known as the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Senate has nineteen members and the House thirty-nine, all elected by popular vote. Both chambers meet in the Capitol building. The Judiciary branch, headed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, consists of a Supreme Court and the district and municipal courts of the Island.

The Island is divided into seventy-seven municipalities. Sán Juan, the capital, has a city-manager typc of govern ment with a city manager and a nine-member Board of Commissioners. The other tpwns have a mayor and a municipal assembly. The mayors and assembly members are elected by popular vote. As American citizens, Puerto Rico enjoy the same rights and privileges as any citizen from the mainland. But, as residents outside the continent, they do not vote in national elections ñor have representatives in Congress. Nevertheless, Puerto Rico has a voice, though no vote, in Congress through its Resident Commissioner whom we elect for a four ycar

term. This is so because we do not pay federal taxes. Revcnues collected in the Island belong to the Island's Treasury and are used for the improvement of the Insular Ufe. These are, in brief, the characteristic features of our demo-

cratic government. You will see that our organization is verv much like yours. The democratic principies upon which

it is based are the same, although procedures in some instances may vary.

UR PUBLIC schools are fcee to all

Our Puerto Rican school gĂrls and boys are much Hkc

any of you on the continent. They learn reading, wrĂting. music, arithmetic and social studies just as you do. They even use the same textbooks in many cases. Some of their games are the same.

One of our new, tnodern schools — Caguas Junioc High

Year around they wear the same kind of clothing you use in summcr, for wc have no snow in Puerto Rico.

Our teachers even use more or less the same methods and tech-

niques as yours, for they are taught the American way of teaching. Many teachers have studied in

continental colleges and universities.

Our school buildings are similar to yours. Some are bíg, beautiful buildings with hundreds of students, while others

are small, humble, one-room school houses out in the country and in the mountains with forty or fifty pupils. The equiprnent — desks, bookcases, chairs, blackboards, maps — are like yours for much of this equipment comes from the States. They are no furnaces or heating plants, as we have no cold weather.

Our school system is organized like yours. There is an elementary school of six years and júnior and sénior high schools of three years each. We have grades and report cards that give us the same trouble when the grades are low. (Parents are alike everywhere — the kindest people on earth, but ready to frown when their children don't come up to expectations.) We have graduations just like you from grammar, júnior and sénior high schools and college. There is one big difference in our schools. We learn two

languages at a time: Spanish, which is our native language, and English. We study these from the first grade through the University. Our school system cannot meet the demands on it as well

An oid-fúsbioned one-room school in the

mountains of a type fast being replaced by modern concrete buildings

is yours. Our government isn't able to build schools and train teachers fast enough to keep up with the rapíd annual incrcase of school population. Although we are spending about ene third of our government income for education, this is not enough. Our school population is too large and our resources too limited. We aren't able to have all the children of school age in school. There are about 454,900

children attending public and private elementary and second-

ary schools. Yet a considerable number of children from six to eighteen years oíd are not attending school because there aren't places for them. But we are striving hard to solve this problem.

Progress toward getting these children into schools has been tremendous. In 1899 there were about 600 teachers, while we now have more than 10,000. The school enrollment in 1900 was not quite 22,000, now it is almost 455,000. Between 1890 and 1950 illiteracy dropped from 76 per cent

to about 25 per cent of the general population ten years oíd and over. Most of the illiterates are the older persons.

Of the 23 countries in the Western Hemisphere, only five

have a higher literacy rating than Puerto Rico. For every 100 pupils who enter school in the first grade, about 70 reach the third grade, 41 receive the sixth grade

diploma and only ten finish high school.

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^aeíu.

Puerto Rico has also a good system of vocational education as well as the usual academic courses. Special courses in agriculture, horae economics, industrial arts, trades and

native handicrafts are taught from the seventh through the twelfth grades. Eleven municipalities have trade and indus trial schools headed by the Metropolitan Industrial School located in San Juan.

There are four institutions of highcr learning on the Island:

1. The University of Puerto Rico, which is a co-educa-

tional governmental institution graduating about 2,000 students a year. It has three dependencies; a. The colleges of Social Work, Education, Science, Social Studies, Business Administration and Humanities located in Río'Piedras.

b. The College of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts

located in MayagÜez and engaged in the preparac.

tion of engineers, soil specialists and agronomists. The School of Medicine recently established for the preparation of doctors and health technicians.

2. Polytechnic Institute, the oldest private institution of higher education on the Island, co-educational, founded by Protestant missionaries but non-sectarian.

3. University of Santa María, co-educational: private Catholic college. 4. Colegio del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús, a Catholic institution for girls.

The Department of Education has set as its goal to provide educational opportunities for all children between six and

twelve. In addition it aims toward increased higher education and broadened programs of adult and community education. Our schools are far from what we should like them to be,

but we are striving to improve them. Each year we see our

goal a little nearer achievement.

A faüorite spot on the beautiful campus of the

CoUege of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts

«MI

San Germán. Puerto Rico. Students coming out of Science Hall at the Polytechnic Institute.

UR" CIXIES ate a blend of oíd and new

SA\M JUAN San Juan, the capital of Puerto Rico, is our largest and most important city. Oíd San Juan is situated on a small

island connccted to the mainland by one railway and íhree highway bridges. The modern city has spread across the bridges, so that the main residential sections as well as a rapidly expanding commercial center are now on the main land.

Oíd San Juan was founded in 1521, half a century before Saint Augustine, the oldest city in continental United

The oíd San Cristóbal

(St. Christopber) Fortress ivatches over modern San Juan.

Stares. Residents of San Juan were already thínkíng of their centennial as the British were founding Jamestown in 1607. Thc Governor's Palace, La Fortaleza, was built more than

two hundred and fifty years before the White House. The oíd city ís a mixture of oíd and new. It is characterized by narrow strects, some of which are still paved with the blue-glazed bricks brought over centuries ago as ballast

in Spanish ships, by city walls, forts, oíd Spanish buildings and modern-up-to-date business buildings. Thick oíd Span ish walls encircle the northern end of the small island with a

ring of granice blocks cut now and then by oíd fortifications. For this reason the city is sometimes called the "walled city."

Many governmental agencies are housed in the oíd Spanish buildings. This booklct has bcen prepared in such a building.

San Juan is, at the same time, a very modern commercial center of the Caribbean area. The harbor has fourteen piers

to which come ships from all over the world. A large inter

nacional airport through which planes pass daily lies next to the harbor.

é Details of the cúter forti fications of El Morro Fort, San Juan

There are large department stores. Some are local estab-

lishment and others, branches of American companies — González Padín ^ Company, Inc., the New York Depart ment Stores, your well-known Sears Roebuck and Company and National Bellas Hess. We have large local banks such as Banco Popular de Puerto Rico and Crédito y Ahorro Ponceño (Ponce Credit and Savings Bank), as wdl as branches of continental and foreígn banks, among them the National City Bank of New York, Chase National Bank, Royal Bank of Ganada and Bank of Nova Scotia.

The Caribbean representatives and managcrs for many XJ. S. and Latin American firms have their central offices in San Juan.

New York Department Store, Santurce Branch

RIO PIEDRAS

Río Piedras, until reccntly the second largest city of the Island lies seven miles from San Juan.*

It is the site of the University of Puerto Rico, our largest educational institution, as well as a large commercial center.

The population and area of * Río Piedras have increased rapidly

in the last ten years due to the large number of housing

projects and developments in and around the cityi Puerto Nuevo, one of the largest housing projects in the world, has over 4,500 low rental units.

* A referendum was held on June 4, 1951, in which the majority of the electorate of Río Piedras favored the mergíng of the city with the capital of the Island, San Juan.

¡) The Univer^ty towet stands high above campas and town

2) Aerial vieiv of Puerto Nuevo, a loiO rental housing development

?OMCE Poncc, Pearl of the South as it is affectíonately known, is the second town of the Island.

Founded in 1752 on the

south coast, it is named for the Spanish colonizer Captain Juan Ponce de León.

Modern commcrcial and industrial

buildings rub elbows with oíd Spanish houses and business buildings that often shelter modern progressive busincsses. The Ponce Plaza Principal with its cathedral and the multi-colored fire station is one of the most attractive plazas of the Island.

The very colorful Ponce Fire Station

MAYAGUEZ Mayagüez, also known as Sultana of the West, is our third city. It has a good harbor, beautiful buíldíngs and widc, shady streets. The city is the commercial center of the west coast. It is best known for its needlework industries and embroideries.

The College of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts of the University of Puerto Rico and the Federal Experimental Station are located in Mayagüez.

Chrisiopher Columbas keeps a watchful eye on the Mayagüez City Hall

SAN GERMAN San Germán, second oldest cíty of the Island, was found-

ed by one of Ponce de León's men in 1500. It had a roving hístory the fírst sixty years of its exístence, for it was moved from one site to another five different times, as one disaster or another made each place undesirable, until at last it was

permanently located on the Lomas de Santa Marta (Hills of Saint Martha) in 1572.

Although San Germán is not a large commercial center, it is of interest because Porta Coeli, one of the oldest Christian churches of the Western Hemisphere, stands on one of the Hills of Saint Martha.

The famous Porta Coelis Church

HESE ARE some of our public buildings.

Our public buildings are of different types. Some are Spanish or Renaissance architecture, others are modern build ings like those you have in the States.

Casa Blanca (White Housc) was built for Ponce de Leรณn's son in 1523. Now it is used as the residente of the United

States Military Commander in Puerto Rico.

It is the

oldest home of the Island still being used as such.

This beautiful building in Spanish Renaissance architecture was formerly the School of Tropical Medicine and is now our Insular Medical School.

Formerly the regimental headquarters and barracks of the Spanish Infantry. then the Customs

House and now occupied by the Department of Labor.

The Caribe Hilton in San Juan

is one of the luxury botĂŠis in the Caribbean area.

The modern Professional Build-

ing is occupied by doctors' offices and a hospital.

'ME _

S l o VA.

7^(J/LD\rAO

HEN YOU COME TO PUERTO RICO REMEM8ER — that we Uve on a small island in the Caribbean area

wherc the advances of modern United States are taking root and growing under the tropical sky:

— that we are the crossroads for two ways of Ufe — Spanish and American: a blend of óld fortresses, which once, protected Spain's sea lañes, and tall chimneys of modern in

dustrial plants: of cockfights and baseball; of hot steaming café con leche and ice cream;. — that we are United States soil;

— that we are American citizens;

— that our government is based upon democratic prin cipies like the United States and that we have been American citizens since 1917; — that we have fought as good Americans, with about 75,000 puerto Ricans serving in the Armed Forces during World War II. Our units served with distinction in Europc

and the Pacific and took over most of the Caribbean defense installations. Today our boys fight in Korea, side by sidc with your own brothers and fathers; that most of us speak EngUsh, although Spanish is our native language;

— that we have our own Puerto Rican traditions and,

whilc you think of a white Christmas, our thoughts turn to January 6 — Three Kings' Day; — that the majority of us are Catholic, although a large part of the population is Protestant and that there is religious freedom in Puerto Rico as in the United States; — that we have built cities

that, far as they may be geographically from New England towns, have in common a basic pattern: a central square with a church at

one end and a city hall at the other;

— that we have fine churches The Chapel of St. Christ of Health

and long before the Pílgrims knelt to thank God for their safe arriv-

al, we were praying in churches

already almost a century oíd. The first Catholic bishop in América carne to Puerto Rico in 1513 and the first non-

Román church building in Spanish territory was the Church of England in Ponce;

— that many of us live in homes like yours — modern

residences with well equipped kitchens, airy bedrooms and modern conveniences and that the government is working to provide adequate housing for the underprivileged arcas;

that we have modern schools where almost 450,000 children attend 3,000 schools and that every effort is being made to provide enough schools and teachers for those an-

xious to go and unable because of lack of space. EngHsh is

taught to every child;

— that we are one of the largest consumers of American goods;

— that our present economy depends on the land;

— that our government is making every effort to industrialize the Island, introducing and creating new indus tries, but it is a task that requires many, many years of hard work;

— that we go to movies and parties just as you do, play bingo, listen to Crosby's songs, dance in night clubs and whistle your same popular tunes; — that we go to baseball games and our ball parks are always crowded with fans who heatedly follow their favorite team;

— that we live in the tropics where we have no use for furs and central heating, where the sun is friendly and spring is year round, where the climate is one of the best found on earth;

— that we live on a bcautiful island, cooled by the trade

winds, lying between the Atlantic and the historie Caribbean Sea.

Baseball fans in the Sixto Escobar Park

And be sure to remembec. . .

— that wc are making much of very little; — that we are learning soil conservatíon so as to make every inch of land count: — that we have developed our own good road system; — that we are constantly building up our own power

system. Whíle candles glow in our churches and cathedrals, incandescent and fluorescent lamps light the Island; — that we are developing our own industries as well as introducing others from outside; — that we are steadily improving our harbors from

which ships sail with sugar and rum, tobáceo, needlework and manufactured articles — New York, Baltimore, New

Orleans, Tampa, Galveston, Houston, San Francisco, Portland, Scattle are some of their destinations.

Another new higbway in the making

And please remember when yon meet us away from here — that many of us may find it difficult to learn a new language:

—that we are used to different foods and different customs;

— that we may never have lived in crowded, closed-in cities;

— that we have never known cold, seen snow or worn overcoats;

— that we may have to learn new ways of earning our living.

\m — that we are over 2,200,000 American citizens living outside continental United States, willing and ready to help ín the building of a better United States and of a better world!

— that many of us have gone to the United States and have successfully integrated ourselves into the life of the mainland; — we have become actors, — we have become business men,

— we have become artists, — we have become teachers, '

— we have become leaders of men.

BELLA ES MI TIERRA

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land!

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Love- ly

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skies

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pol

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po!m groves

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UPR-RÍO Pledras-SiBlema BIbllolecaa

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DEPARTMENT O? EDUCATION PRESS SAN JUAN, P.^R. 1952

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