Puerto Rico Archives

Caribbean Connections: Moving North

Teaching Guide. Edited by Catherine Sunshine and Keith Warner. 2005. 240 pages.
Literature and essays about Caribbean life in the United States.

We Took the Streets: Fighting for Latino Rights with the Young Lords

Book — Non-fiction. By Miguel Melendez. 2003. 260 pages.
Legacy of the Young Lords in the Puerto Rican struggle for equality and independence.

Teaching Activity by Miguel Melendez

Resplendant Quetzel Illustration - Olivia Wise | Zinn Education Project

Where Are the Climate Change Superheroes? Systems Thinking and Climate Activism in the Children’s Eternal Rainforest

Teaching Activity. By Eric Fishman. Rethinking Schools.
An elementary school teacher developed the engaging Quetzal Conundrum game to help students understand the impact of climate change in Costa Rica.

Ismael Guadalupe Ortiz: “Testimony on Vieques, Puerto Rico”

Film clip. Voices of a People's History.
Ismael Guadalupe Ortiz's "Testimony on Vieques, Puerto Rico" (1979) read by Mario Murillo.

Overthrow: America’s Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq

Book — Non-fiction. By Stephen Kinzer. 2007. 416 pages.
A history of U.S. government supported (often initiated) regime change around the world.

Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America

Film. Directed by Eduardo López & Peter Getzels. 2012. 90 minutes.
Documentary that examines the direct connection between the long history of U.S. intervention in Latin America and the immigration crisis we face today.

The Battle for Paradise (Book) | Zinn Education Project

The Battle for Paradise: Puerto Rico Takes on the Disaster Capitalists

Book — Non-fiction. By Naomi Klein. 2018. 91 pages.
Post-Hurricane Maria, Puerto Ricans are engaged in a pitched struggle with "disaster capitalists" over how to remake the island.

Jan. 24, 1874: Arturo Alfonso Schomburg Born

Arturo Alfonso Schomburg, bibliophile, collector, writer, who spent his life championing Black history, was born on this day.

Resistance in Paradise: Rethinking 100 Years of U.S. Involvement in the Caribbean and the Pacific

Teaching Guide. Edited by Debbie Wei and Rachel Kamel. 1998. 199 pages.
Readings and teaching ideas for high school students on the Spanish-American War.

U.S. flag raised on October 18, 1898 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Oct. 18, 1898: U.S. Troops Raised U.S. Flag Over Puerto Rico

U.S. troops raised the U.S. flag over Puerto Rico.

March 21, 1937: Ponce Massacre

Police shot peaceful protesters, killing 19 and wounding over 200 others in Ponce, Puerto Rico.

Fort Hood Three Press Conference | Zinn Education Project: Teaching People's History

June 30, 1966: Fort Hood Three Release Public Statement on Vietnam Refusal

The Fort Hood Three issued a public statement about their refusal to be sent to Vietnam.

Dec. 31, 1972: Roberto Clemente Dies

Puerto Rican Roberto Clemente died in a plane crash while traveling at great risk in response to urgent requests to deliver help to earthquake devastated Nicaragua.

June 14, 2001: U.S. Ends Bombing Exercises in Puerto Rico

After decades of protests from activists, the United States announced the end to its bombing exercises in Vieques, Puerto Rico.

Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America (Book)

Book — Non-fiction. By Juan Gonzalez. 2022. 560 pages.
An updated and thorough account of the role the United States in the mass migration of Latinos to the U.S.

Gangsters of Capitalism: Smedley Butler, the Marines, and the Making and Breaking of America’s Empire

Book — Non-fiction. By Jonathan M. Katz. 2022. 432 pages.
This book traces a path from the first wave of U.S. overseas expansionism to the rise of fascism in the 1930s to the crises of democracy in our own time.

Teaching Activity by Jonathan M. Katz

Takeover: How We Occupied a Hospital and Changed Public Health Care

Film. By Emma Francis-Snyder. 2021. 38 minutes.
Takeover tells the story of the Young Lords’ 12-hour occupation of Lincoln Hospital in the South Bronx in 1970.

La Operación (documentary)

Film. Directed by Ana María García. 1982. 40 minutes.
La Operación is a 1982 documentary that shows the widespread sterilization operation led by the U.S. during the 1950s and 60s in Puerto Rico.