leadership among less privileged neigh-
bors; where community organizations
boasted substantial audiences of 100 or
200 persons at functions; and where Span-
ish-language newspapers and magazines
found an eager reading public. La Prensa,
for example, had been founded by 1913,
and magazines such as Grifico, El Her-
aldo and Reolsta de Artes y Letras en-
joyed long literary lives.
 Sister Carmelita Bonilla, was the first Trin-
itarian nun from Puerto Rico. She arrived in
the city as a teenager en route to Georgia
where she took her vows. When assigned to
a Brooklyn convent, her new respon-
sibilities required involvement in social wel-
fare, housing, educational and vocational
counseling, public health and religious ed-
ucation. Her recollections evoke memories
of a poor community, overwhelmingly
working class, where she was frequently
called upon as a translator or intermediary
between the Spanish-speaking settlement
and the wider, non-Hispanic society. Young-
sters credited Sister Carmelita with encour-
aging their own academic growth. As one of
the founders of the settlement house, Cas-
ita Maria, she continued to influence the
social, cultural and educational welfare of
the early colonia.
 Doctora Eloisa Garcia Rivera, on the
other hand, made her mark in politics and
higher education. A university graduate
upon her arrival in the city, Dofia Eloisa
completed graduate work in Spanish litera-
ture. Firmly adhering to the traditional phi-
losophy that women should be helpmates
to their spouses, she campaigned and di-
rected voter registration drives on behalf of
her husband's political career.
 Yet a different perspective appears in the
 case of Honorina Irizarry, who came to live
 in her brother's comfortable Brooklyn
 home during the twenties. Dofia Honorina
 had studied and perfected her clerical skills.
 Once in the Brooklynbarrio, determined to
 work and use her mind and skills, she
 sought employment in spite of the objec-
 tions of her family, who considered working
 "unladylike." Answering a newspaper ad,
 she obtained a position as a bilingual
 secretary/stenographer.
 Dofia Honorina was an exceptional
 woman for her time. She studied at Eras-
 mus Hall High School at night while work-
 ing days, mastered five languages fluently
 and eventually eamed a liberal arts degree.
 Clearly, Dofia Honorina's experiences in
 Puerto Rico molded her activities in New
 York. Her superior secretarial skills and aca-
 demic ambitions made possible a life of
 comfort, satisfaction and status. In time,
 Dofa Honorina participated in the political
 organizations of the Brooklyn settlement,
 where her position within the community
 afforded her a degree of leadership.

 Individual Stories
 A closer look into several case histories fur-


their illustrates the connection between the
early experiences of migrant women in
Puerto Rico, their subsequent contributions
to the New Yorkcolonia and, in most cases,
their conscious efforts to forge and main-
tain links between the two. One individual
who performed brilliantly in all areas was
Dofia Josefina Silva de Cintr6n. She began
her career as an elementary school teacher
in Caguas. Distinguished before long as a
community leader in Rio Piedras, Dofia
Josefina established the first post office in
Hato Rey, worked with the Red Cross and
with the Corte de Lourdes. As a journalist,




1,000 Puerto Rican postal
workers were hired as
censors.


she collaborated with feminist Mercedes
Sola in the publication of La Muier en el
Siglo. Dofia Josefina contributed to the lit-
erary arena, writing under the pen name of
Lidia.
 Dofia Josefina pursued similar activities
 in New York: the Uni6n de Muieres Ameri-
 canas and the League of Spanish-speak-
 ing Democrats, among others. Her
 foremost contribution was the creation of a
 monthly journal, Artes y Letras. Flourish-
 ing in New York from 1933 until 1945, the
 journal conscientiously promoted the pres-
 ervation of the Spanish language, culture
 and literary traditions. It created mutual
 awareness regarding social-cultural events
 among Puerto Ricans and other Spanish-
 speaking groups. The journal presented a
 clearly defined middle-class point of view.
 The joumal featured articles on family
 and child welfare; editorials defended rele-
 vant community issues. Its literary pages
 presented the works of creative giants such
 as Julio de Burgos or lesser known poets
 such as Carmen Alicia Cadilla. Essays and
 short stories shared space with news of
 community organizations, activities and
 events. And the society pages divulged the
 private lives of community leaders, report-
 ing their comings and goings in exagger-
 ated fashion. In short, Artes y Letras
 reported the social and cultural interaction
 of the colonia, while conveying a specific
 portrayal of a select segment of the city's
 Spanish-speaking population.
 IfArtes y Letras reported the activities of
 a select group, it also sought to attract a
 specific reading public-namely, women.
 Adhering to an almost "feminist" frame of
 reference and philosophy, the unique struc-
 ture of the joumal's editorial board insured
 female input. The board consisted of eleven
 members, six of whom were women, each
 representing a different Latin country.
 Moreover, these were well-educated, ac-


complished women who continued to
maintain relationships with others of similar
backgrounds in their countries. Dofia
Josefina, for example, had contact with
those of the intermediary sector in Puerto
Rico-the group that occupied white-collar,
professional or decision-making positions
within the American colonial structure and
generally favored a North American point
of view.
 Dofia Josefina used Artes y Letras to
convey an organizational network and so-
cial elite to the Hispanic community of New
York. In the society column, privileged fami-
lies frequently traveled between Puerto Rico
and New York, to Spain and to South Amer-
ica, students graduated with honors from
good universities, exuberant newlyweds
read of their elaborate wedding celebra-
tions. Condolences were extended and
congratulations expressed for personal
achievements. The activities of community
groups testified to involvement of women.
 If Dofia Josefina addressed the interests
of an educated middle class, others aspired
to bring the fruits of an intellectual heritage
directly to the working class. One who did
was writer and folklorist, Dofia Pura Belpre.
Active in community organizations during
the 1930s and early 1940s, Pura Belpr6 was
the first Puerto Rican librarian in New York
City's public library system. Born in Cidra in
1902, her earliest memories of life in Puerto
Rico depict frequent family moves and in-
ternal migrations throughout the island.
She arrived in New York City as a child, and
the bulk of her education took place there.
By 1921, Belpre had begun library work at
the 135th Street branch. She soon became
chief children's librarian at the 115th Street
branch in Southwest Harlem, a predomi-
nantly Puerto Rican neighborhood shared
by other Hispanic groups.
 Pura Belpre observed two trends among
the early migrant women: an emphasis on
traditional family values and an interest in
Puerto Rican culture and heritage. Accord-
ing to Belpre, women often struggled to
keep family life intact. During critical eco-
nomic periods, women sold their needle-
work and handicrafts from door to door to
supplement their meager family incomes.
Grandmothers, charged with caring for the
young, visited the library searching for
books in Spanish to teach their grand-
children their native language.
 Belpre would tell stories on Puerto Rican
 themes, values and folktales, and soon
 graduated to translating the latter into Eng-
 lish, writing her own children's stories and
 creating programs designed to meet spe-
 cific colonia cultural needs. This included
 inviting notable Hispanic visitors to the city,
 with visits to the library as well. Thus, a
 renowned poetess like Gabriela Mistral or
 the Puerto Rican tenor, Antonio Paoli would
 include a special library presentation as part
 of their itinerary. Under Belpre's direction,
 the library would sponsor cultural events


28/CAIBBEAN KV JEW