Some Reading

Lately I've been reading lots about Puerto Rico. Sadly, I grew up knowing so little about where my family came from. I remember learning about the Spanish-American war in High School but nothing more. It's also sad that neither or my parents including my Dad who was born & raised in Puerto Rico didn't know much about the history of the island.

With all my new research, I knew that if I really wanted to understand what life was like for my ancestors I would have to read about it. I started by searching on Amazon.com (this is where I usually get all my books). They didn't really have a big selection so I chose books that had the best reviews. 

There were 2 that I felt I got the most learning from. The first one is called Puerto Rico: An Interpretive History from Pre-Columbian Times to 1900

This book was super informative & broke down every bit of history on the island. From the beginning when the Spanish colonists arrived, to revolts against Spain & the process of how the US took over. I read a similar book before this but this book put everything in better perspective for me. It was easy to follow & gave some really good facts. 

The second book is Imposing Decency: The Politics of Sexuality and Race in Puerto Rico, 1870–1920

I loved this book! 

It's focus is on women & the culture of the island from the late 1800's to early 1900's. It talks about racism, slavery, legal prostitution & what life in general was like for woman that lived on the island back then. Sadly, the lives described seemed so awful even for the higher class woman. It goes into detail about specific court cases that were documented in Ponce. The author does a really good job at giving us a peek of what it would of been like to live there back then. It was a real eye-opener.

If you know of any others that you would want to recommend please suggest them. I would love to look them up.