Puerto Rico and the Legacies of 1898

For Class on Tuesday 10/23

Subjection Under the Law

Review the following laws and their relation to our class discussions:

Foraker Law 1900

Jones Act 1917

The Body as Evidence

We will discuss these images as examples of "phosphorescent historical memory":
Pedro Albizu-Campos






Lolita Lebrón
On March 1, 1954, Lolita Lebrón, Irving Flores, Rafael Cancel and Andrés Figueroa attacked Congress while it was in session from the Ladies' Gallery. Lebrón led the attack and is purported to have shouted shouted "¡Viva Puerto Rico Libre!" as she unfurled a Puerto Rican flag or the observation mezzanine of the Ladies' Gallery.
President Jimmy Carter pardoned Lolita Lebrón, Irving Flores, and Rafael Cancel Miranda after they had served 25 years in prison in 1975. (Andrés Figueroa Cordero was released from prison earlier because of grave health.) The Governor of Puerto Rico Carlos Romero Barceló opposed the pardons claiming that it would encourage further acts of "terrorism." Lebrón was welcomed by various Puerto Rican pro-liberation groups upon her return and she has continued to be active in the independence cause, including the Vieques protest against the U.S. Navy occupation of the island in 2000-03, and today.




The assassination attempt on U.S. President Harry S. Truman occurred on November 1, 1950. It was perpetrated by two

Puerto Rican pro-liberation activists, Oscar Collazo and Griselio Torresola, attempt to assassination U.S. President Harry S. Truman. The incident occurred on November 1, 1950 in Washington, D.C., at the President's temporary residence, Blair House. The attempt resulted in the murder of one White House police officer and the death of Griselio Torresola.







René Marqués (4 de octubre, 1919 - 22 de marzo, 1979)

"La generación de los 40s"

Los soles truncos (1959)