Monday, August 3 - History / Culture / Politics

After Spanish class, we had the pleasure of having Dr. Ignacio Olazagasti speak to us about the history, culture, and politics of Puerto Rico. Briefly, he divided up the history of the island into 4 major time eras:

1. 1917 - current
2. 1898 - 1916 - the U.S. period
3. 1493 - 1897 - the Spanish period
4. 5000 B.C. - 1492 - the Indian period

Any of the above periods and their relevant contents would provide excellent research topics for projects or papers.

Ignacio spoke about identity and ethnicity in general and the 4 factors that make up culture:

1. Materal
2. Non-material
3. Dynamic
4. Static

The last 2 (dynamic and static) have an impact on Puerto Rican migrations. This led to a discussion on the major immigration waves that have had major impacts on Puerto Rican society.

Since the 1900's, there have been 3 major immigration waves. The first occurred between 1900 and 1920. The second wave was between 1950 and 1960. Both of these waves could be attributed to adverse agricultural conditions on the island, as well as 2 major devestating hurricanes.

The third wave, a more recent one, took place between 1970 and 1990. This one was influenced more by educational and techical factors. While the earlier immigration waves headed to the Northeast United States (New York, Boston), this latest wave has concentrated in the Orlando, Florida area. These people are bilingual and highly educated. Some are attending (or graduated from) Disney University and are highly educated people with titles.

The cycle of migration to the mainland and then back to Puerto Rico would be a good research topic. What is the right time to go? What are the reasons to go? When is the right time to return back to the Island, and for what reasons? Are they the same now as 10 or 20 years ago?



Ignacio also touched on the on-going political issue of whether the island of Puerto Rico should remain an island or a state. This has been going on for some time and there is not really a clear consensus at this time.

I deliberatly placed the picture of the late Roberto Clemente at the top of this page because he was not only one of the best all around baseball players of his era, he was a thoughtful human being and met an untimely premature death in an airplane crash while taking relief supplies to his fellow human beings after a natural disaster struck in the Caribbean. A few of my students wrote an biographical research paper and presentation on him last year. I want them to see that he is honored in the Museum of the Americas in El Viejo San Juan. I actually saw a guy wearing a Roberto Clemente authentic jersey on one of our trips through El Viejo San Juan.