After a long struggle by leaders of the Puerto Rican abolitionist movement, on March 22, 1873, the Spanish National Assembly finally abolished slavery in Puerto Rico. The owners were compensated with 35 million pesetas per slave, and slaves were required to continue working for three more years.
Photo: Former slaves in Puerto Rico, 1898
Library of Congress, Hispanic Division
Children in a company housing settlement, Puerto Rico
December 1941
Jack Delano, photographer
In the Everglades needlework factory, San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Jack Delano, 1942.
Malaria poster in small hotel, Puerto Rico … San Juan
Dec. 1941
Sugar cane workers resting at the noon hour, Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico.
Photograph by Jack Delano, c. 1939
These are the images and accounts of how people worked, raised families, built communities, worshiped, maintained relationships, expressed themselves and coped with changes and challenges in the past. Most of the subjects are Americans of African descent.
"Know from whence you came. If you know whence you came, there are absolutely no limitations to where you can go." — James Baldwin
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