Patria : Puerto Rican Revolutionary Exiles in Late Nineteenth Century New York

Patria: Puerto Rican Revolutionaries in Nineteenth Century New York examines the activities and ideals of Puerto Rican revolutionary exiles in New York City at the end of the nineteenth century. The study is centered in the writings, news reports, and announcements by and about Puerto Ricans in Patria, the official newspaper of the Cuban Revolutionary Party. Both were founded and led by the Cuban patriot José Martí. The book looks at the political, organizational and ideological ties between Cuban and Puerto Rican revolutionaries in exile, as well as the events surrounding the war of 1898. It argues that what became major underpinnings of twentieth century Puerto Rico’s nationalist thought were already present in the writings of Puerto Ricans found in Patria. The newspaper also offers a glimpse into the daily life and community of Puerto Rican exiles in late nineteenth century New York City. All of the writings in Patria about Puerto Rico are presented in their full English translation. Finally, the book presents a historical overview of how the Puerto Rican exile community living in the city developed at that time.

About the author

Edgardo Meléndez is a professor emeritus of Africana and Puerto Rican/Latino Studies at Hunter College-CUNY. He is the author of: Patria: Puerto Rican Revolutionary Exiles in Late Nineteenth Century New York City (Centro Press, 2020); Sponsored Migration: The State and Postwar Puerto Rican Migration to the United States (Ohio State University Press, 2017); Puerto Rican Government and Politics: A Comprehensive Bibliography (Lynne Rienner, 2000); Partidos, política pública y estatus en Puerto Rico (Ediciones Nueva Aurora, 1998); Puerto Rico en Patria (Editorial Edil, 1996); El movimiento anexionista en Puerto Rico (La Editoria, UPR, 1993); and Puerto Rico’s Statehood Movement (Praeger, 1988).

Reviews

Quien piense que la guagua aérea —el ir y venir constante entre Puerto Rico y Nueva York— fue un desarrollo del siglo XX se equivoca. Esa ciudad, símbolo de la libertad, fue –desde el siglo XI— lugar de encuentro de los líderes cubanos y puertorriqueños que planificaron y organizaron la lucha contra España…. Este libro presenta un campo de estudio imprescindible para conocer los procesos políticos libertarios de nuestro país y su vinculación con los de Cuba. También hace accesibles a los angloparlantes los artículos de Patria, que constituyen una documentación importante. --Carmen Dolores Hernández, El Nuevo Día

Twenty-five years ago, historian and political scientist Edgardo Meléndez produced a compilation of articles that he had painstakingly transcribed from microfiche images of the newspaper Patria. That newspaper, the propaganda arm of José Martí’s Cuban Revolutionary Party in New York from 1892 to 1898, was a classic source for the study of Cuban nationalism. Meléndez brilliantly transformed it into a tool for understanding the early history of Puerto Rican migration to the city. Now he and a team of students in the translation program at the University of Puerto Rico have produced a fine English translation of the articles, published as Patria: Puerto Rican Revolutionary Exiles in Nineteenth Century New York.… These writings also a provide a window into complexities of the nationalist coalition that Puerto Ricans helped to build in New York. …the book is a major contribution. It brings an important primary resource within reach of nonspecialists and, most importantly, English dominant high school and university students. --Jesse Hoffnung-Garskof, New West Indian Guide