Lillian López recalls that her sister, Luisa, was the first to travel to New York before the rest of her family slowly joined her: They wanted someone to keep an eye on her but the woman became so sick on the trip that she never left her cabin and Velázquez was able to explore the ship unchaperoned.įor many young women, this trip was an opportunity to reunite with family and friends as well as find employment. Her family arranged for an older woman who lived in her hometown to accompany her. In her interview, Carolina Velázquez recalls her seven-day long trip to New York City in 1930 to find work. Women who traveled to New York often had a traveling companion. In contrast, Maria Fortún described her trip as an adventure, eating and dancing during her eight-day long trip. In an interview for the Puerto Rican Oral History Project, Flora Acosta, who migrated to New York in 1927, remembered being seasick during her entire five-day journey. These trips took four to eight days and could be fun or exhausting. “And like that man who came to dinner, we never went back to Puerto Rico.”Įarly Puerto Rican migrants travelled by steamship and it was often a memorable experience: How much more difficult is it to construct the migration stories of unknown Puerto Rican women migrants? With all we know of Belpré from her extensive archives, we still do not know all we could about her. Friends and colleagues described her as a generous and gregarious woman who was reserved when it came to discussing her private life. ![]() Her career as a librarian and published author stands in contrast with that of other Puerto Rican migrants who, due to financial and familial obligations, were often unable to pursue a formal education and professional career. In comparison to other women who came to the United States during those decades, there is more information available about Belpré because she was well-known and kept in contact with fellow librarians, publishers, schools, and organizations where she did her storytelling. Arguably, for many Puerto Ricans in New York City, she is a pioneer. Most of what we know about Belpré is based on personal interviews, interviews with colleagues and friends, and her correspondence and essays. She also became the first Boricua to have these folktales published in English. Puerto Ricans arrived in New York City in search of employment, housing, education, and health care for themselves and their families.Īs the first Puerto Rican librarian in the New York Public Library system, Belpré took great pride in recounting the folktales she heard as a child growing up in Puerto Rico to recent Puerto Rican migrant families who visited the library. Records indicate that the number of Puerto Ricans in New York City increased from 7,364 in 1920 to 44,908 by 1930. She arrived in 1921 and settled in New York City, where Puerto Rican communities had begun to develop in the 1920s with the proliferation of Puerto Rican-owned businesses including bodegas, barberías, botánicas, restaurants, boarding houses, and storefront churches, as well as legal and medical offices. Belpré was part of the first large wave of Puerto Ricans who migrated to the United States in the 1920s. Librarian Pura Belpré began her story hours by lighting a candle, placing flowers on the table, and having a story ready to tell. ![]() “The story hour candle was lit, the name of the story introduced, and the story began.” Using oral histories collected in the second half of the 20th century can help us piece together who these Puerto Rican women who migrated to New York City before the 1940s were, how they got here, why the migrated, and the obstacles and challenges they experience once they arrived. These women were regular people, and until the 1960s and 1970s, there was little incentive to collect or archive their experiences. ![]() Piecing together the migration stories of Puerto Rican women who came to New York City after the Great War is quite challenging. However, “between 19, the Puerto Rican population in the States grew from fewer than 12,000 to almost 70,000.” Trade and commerce linked Puerto Rico and the United States before the 19th century and movement between the two has continued since then. Puerto Ricans who migrated to the United States in the early 20th century were not the first to do so.
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