Historical photographs of United States atrocities in Puerto Rico. My father is in one of them

Historic Photos

Photography is a record of your living, for anyone who really sees.

– Paul Strand

Photography is truth. The cinema is truth twenty-four times per second.

– Jean-Luc Godard

The following photos document some of the key events and significant turning points in Puerto Rican history, commencing from the date of U.S. invasion in 1898.

The photos focus on the Ponce Massacre, the revolution of October 1950, and the life of Pedro Albizu Campos.

U.S. occupation

U.S. 17th Regiment raises a few eyebrows

Inauguration of Charles H. Allen,
the first civilian governor of Puerto Rico from the U.S.

Sugarcane railroad circa 1915:
the sugarcane, land, and railroad are all owned by U.S. banks

Hiram Beauchamp, one hour before his police execution in San Juan, PR

Funeral march for Hiram Beauchamp and Hiram Rosado,
murdered by the Insular Police

The Ponce Massacre

The Ponce Massacre begins

Captain Soldevilla shoots at non-existent “Nationalist snipers”

Ponce Massacre victims

Ponce Massacre victims

Bolívar Márquez Telechea, Ponce Massacre victim

Márquez Telechea’s last words, written with his own blood

Márquez Telechea’s last words,
on the front page of El Imparcial

Police Chief de Orbeta surveys the rooftops for “Nationalist snipers.”
This photo was staged after the Ponce Massacre, to suggest that
Governor Winship’s police department had acted in “self-defense.”

Cartoon in Florete magazine, ridiculing the staged “self-defense” photo

Family of Ponce Massacre victims. Bullet holes show in the wall.

Funeral procession for Ponce Massacre victims.
Over 20,000 mourners participated.

FBI, U.S. Army, Insular Police

FBI document identifying Governor Muñoz Marín as a narcotics addict

Gov.  Muñoz Marín’s police seize dangerous Puerto Rican flags

Police seize more dangerous Puerto Rican flags

The “tommy gun” police of Gov. Blanton Winship

July 4th military parade through Old San Juan

The 1950 revolution

 
National Guard troops deployed to stop the 1950 revolution

5,000 National Guard troops occupy the towns of Jayuya and Utuado

More U.S. National Guard troops arrive in Jayuya (November 1, 1950)

National Guard troops continue pouring into Jayuya and Utuado

“Air Force Bombards Utuado”
(front page of El Imparcial, November 1, 1950)

P-47 Thunderbolt fighter planes. Ten P-47s bombed Utuado and Jayuya

Guillermo González Ubides,
the first Nationalist killed in the 1950 revolution

Insular Police hide behind steel drums in Utuado

Hipólito Miranda Díaz, in the Arecibo police station

Attack on the Salón Boricua

 
U.S. National Guard assault the Salón Boricua

Police and National Guard surround the Salón Boricua

Police and National Guard take cover from the barber’s gunfire

Vidal Santiago Díaz (the barber) after the roof fell on him

Vidal Santiago Díaz (the barber) hauled out of Salón Boricua

National Guardsmen search for guns, in the rubble of Salón Boricua

24-hour watch around the Salón Boricua

Attempted assassination of Pres. Harry Truman

 Oscar Collazo, after the attempted assassination of Pres. Harry Truman

 Diagram of the Truman assassination attempt

Attack on the governor’s mansion

Dead Nationalists in the courtyard of La Fortaleza
(the governor’s mansion) after the attempted assassination
of the Governor of Puerto Rico

“Goyito” Hernandez, the only Nationalist who survived
the failed assassination attempt in La Fortaleza.
He lost three fingers of his left hand.

Arrest of 3,000 Puerto Ricans

Women and children arrested as “suspected Nationalists”

Mass arrest of “suspected Nationalists” in San Juan

Farmers arrested as “suspected Nationalists” in Jayuya

Roadside arrest of “suspected Nationalists,” some still in their pajamas

FBI, National Guard, and Insular Police coordinate their arrest sweeps

Adults and children arrested in their own schools

Farmers arrested and detained by U.S. National Guard troops

Carmen Perez, Olga Viscal, Ruth M. Reynolds
handcuffed and headed for La Princesa

Farmer arrested as a “suspected Nationalist”

Salvador González Rivera arrested in San Juan

More mass arrests of “suspected Nationalists”

Lolita Lebrón and Nationalists

Lolita Lebrón and three Nationalists arrested,
after shooting five US congressmen  

Location of five congressmen shot by Lolita Lebrón and Nationalists

Political meeting at the University of Puerto Rico (Rio Piedras campus)

Life and death of Pedro Albizu Campos

 
Barrio Tenerías section of Ponce,
where Albizu Campos was born and raised

1916 Harvard class photo. Albizu Campos appears on the extreme left.

Lieutenant Albizu Campos during Word War I

Albizu speaks to striking sugar cane workers 

Albizu advocates for independence in his hometown of Ponce, PR

Puerto Rico Liberty Bonds, created by Albizu Campos

Albizu advocates for independence in Rio Piedras
(the University of Puerto Rico)

Albizu at Sixto Escobar Stadium

Crowd swarms around Albizu, upon his return from prison

15,000 people greet the SS Kathryn to cheer the return of Albizu Campos

Albizu arrested in San Juan  (1950)

Albizu tear-gassed, arrested, and sent to La Princesa

Albizu in La Princesa prison, profoundly exhausted.
He spent 25 years in prison.

The dungeons (calabozos) of La Princesa

Albizu with burnt skin, all over his body

Albizu shows his burns and lesions to reporters

Albizu after his prison stroke…paralyzed on the
right side, unable to speak, silenced forever.

Albizu unable to speak

Che Guevara speaks on behalf of Albizu
at the 19th General Assembly of the U.N.

“Albizu Campos has died”
El Imparcial, April 23, 1965

Alginate mold is taken of Albizu’s face, prior to burial

Honor guard salutes Albizu’s coffin outside the Ateneo Puertorriqueño

Funeral procession for Albizu Campos.
The streets of San Juan were lined with mourners.

Mourners line the streets for the funeral rites of Albizu Campos

“Investigation demanded into the death of Albizu Campos”

Enduring image of Pedro Albizu Campos

For a discussion of these photos, and how they integrated into the history of Puerto Rico, please read…

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