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The Space of Agnes Elisa is an eLearning space focused on the bilingual environment; Empower learning and knowledge by designing quality content aligned with the market standards and trends, where learners discover facts through an active and creative engaging product!
Adolfina Villanueva
1946-1980
1946-1980
Poor, black woman with no academic preparation and mother of six children who was assassinated on February 6, 1980, at the hands of a sergeant from the Riot Squad while trying to defend her home from expropriation. On numerous occasions, Adolfina tried to put up a fight by seeking legal help and going to the Citizen Aid Office in La Fortaleza, where she was not received.
On February 6, she confronted five sheriffs and approximately 16 agents from the Puerto Rico Police Shock Force seeking to comply with an eviction order. After they fired gases into the residence to force the family to leave, Adolfina came out with a machete in hand and fired kerosene gas. Almost immediately, a hail of shotgun fire surrounded the home, where two of her children and her husband were also present, who was wounded.
The sergeant responsible for Adolfina's death was acquitted in a jury trial. No one responded to the attacks on her family nor to destroying her belongings by demolishing the home just hours after the events.
On February 6, she confronted five sheriffs and approximately 16 agents from the Puerto Rico Police Shock Force seeking to comply with an eviction order. After they fired gases into the residence to force the family to leave, Adolfina came out with a machete in hand and fired kerosene gas. Almost immediately, a hail of shotgun fire surrounded the home, where two of her children and her husband were also present, who was wounded.
The sergeant responsible for Adolfina's death was acquitted in a jury trial. No one responded to the attacks on her family nor to destroying her belongings by demolishing the home just hours after the events.
Educator, politician, and civil rights activist and Ruth Mary Reynolds, a distinguished Puerto Rican woman politician. She was co-founder and executive secretary of the American League for the Independence of Puerto Rico.
From 1946 to 1947, Reynolds appeared before the United Nations General Assembly, where she lobbied for the independence of Puerto Rico. There, she denounced that the treatment of Puerto Rico by the United States was in violation of the Declaration on the Non-Compliance of Non-Self-Governing Territories, established in Chapter 11, Article 73 of the Charter of the United Nations. She also testified before the United States Congress regarding the situation on the island. She returned to the island in 1948 to investigate the University of Puerto Rico student strike. One day after publishing her book with her findings, and despite not committing any crime, Reynolds was arrested at dawn on October 30, 1950 at the beginning of the revolt of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party. She remained in Princesa Prison until January 1951.
Under the Gag Law, the government alleged that Reynolds had committed her life and fortune to the "illegal, criminal, and malicious overthrow" of the US-backed government in Puerto Rico. In September 1951, she was found guilty of two counts of sedition and sentenced to six years of hard labor in the Arecibo Insular Penitentiary. In 1952, Reynolds was released. Her book Campus in Bondage was published in 1989, the year of her death.
From 1946 to 1947, Reynolds appeared before the United Nations General Assembly, where she lobbied for the independence of Puerto Rico. There, she denounced that the treatment of Puerto Rico by the United States was in violation of the Declaration on the Non-Compliance of Non-Self-Governing Territories, established in Chapter 11, Article 73 of the Charter of the United Nations. She also testified before the United States Congress regarding the situation on the island. She returned to the island in 1948 to investigate the University of Puerto Rico student strike. One day after publishing her book with her findings, and despite not committing any crime, Reynolds was arrested at dawn on October 30, 1950 at the beginning of the revolt of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party. She remained in Princesa Prison until January 1951.
Under the Gag Law, the government alleged that Reynolds had committed her life and fortune to the "illegal, criminal, and malicious overthrow" of the US-backed government in Puerto Rico. In September 1951, she was found guilty of two counts of sedition and sentenced to six years of hard labor in the Arecibo Insular Penitentiary. In 1952, Reynolds was released. Her book Campus in Bondage was published in 1989, the year of her death.
Ruth Mary Reynolds
1918-1989
1918-1989
Carmen Hilda Valentín Pérez
Educator, community and civil rights activist, and Puerto Rican National Liberation Armed Forces (FALN) member. As a high school teacher in Chicago, she fought racism and ignorance about the Puerto Rican reality.
She created a curriculum that included the History and Culture of Puerto Rico as a class. She is a founding member and president of the José de Diego Bilingual Center and founder of the Segundo Ruiz Belvis Puerto Rican Cultural Center. Valentín Pérez developed educational and cultural programs for the inmates of the maximum security prison for men in Stateville, Illinois.
On April 4, 1980, she was arrested in Evanston, Illinois, along with 11 other FALN members in connection to over 100 bombings. Valentín's imprisonment was criticized by members of the international community and categorized as a political arrest. She was released on September 10, 1999 by then US President Bill Clinton. Currently, she is a tutor and English teacher at the Colegio Universitario de San Juan (CUSJ).
She created a curriculum that included the History and Culture of Puerto Rico as a class. She is a founding member and president of the José de Diego Bilingual Center and founder of the Segundo Ruiz Belvis Puerto Rican Cultural Center. Valentín Pérez developed educational and cultural programs for the inmates of the maximum security prison for men in Stateville, Illinois.
On April 4, 1980, she was arrested in Evanston, Illinois, along with 11 other FALN members in connection to over 100 bombings. Valentín's imprisonment was criticized by members of the international community and categorized as a political arrest. She was released on September 10, 1999 by then US President Bill Clinton. Currently, she is a tutor and English teacher at the Colegio Universitario de San Juan (CUSJ).
Puerto Rican educator and leader of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party. She argued that she was the first woman to lead a revolt against the United States. As a member of the Nationalist Party, she organized the party's women's wing under the group Las Hijas de la Libertad. During the revolts of the 1950s, she led the members who participated in the Grito de Jayuya, where the nationalists took control of the city for three days.
The Nationalists, who outnumbered the colonial troops, surrendered on November 1, 1950. Blanca was arrested and accused of killing a policeman and wounding three other people by setting fire to the post office. After a brief federal trial, she was sentenced to life in prison plus an additional 70 years.
In June 1951, she was sent to the Alderson Federal Prison Camp in Alderson, West Virginia. In 1956, Canales was transferred to the Vega Baja Women's Prison, Puerto Rico. In 1967, after 17 years in prison, she was given a full pardon by Puerto Rico Governor Roberto Sánchez Vilella. She and she remained an active pro-independence advocate until the day she died.
The Nationalists, who outnumbered the colonial troops, surrendered on November 1, 1950. Blanca was arrested and accused of killing a policeman and wounding three other people by setting fire to the post office. After a brief federal trial, she was sentenced to life in prison plus an additional 70 years.
In June 1951, she was sent to the Alderson Federal Prison Camp in Alderson, West Virginia. In 1956, Canales was transferred to the Vega Baja Women's Prison, Puerto Rico. In 1967, after 17 years in prison, she was given a full pardon by Puerto Rico Governor Roberto Sánchez Vilella. She and she remained an active pro-independence advocate until the day she died.
Blanca Canales
1906-1996
1906-1996
Isabel Freire de Matos
1915-2004
1915-2004
Writer, educator, journalist, and activist for the Independence of Puerto Rico. Freire de Matos was the author of several children's books and was the wife of Francisco Matos Paoli, a high-ranking member of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party.
After graduating from high school, she attended the University of Puerto Rico (UPR), where she earned a bachelor's degree in education. During her years as a college student, she advocated for the Puerto Rican independence movement. She continued her graduate studies at the UPR and then moved to Paris, France, for a year and studied comparative literature at the Sorbonne.
In her management as an educator, she founded the Eugenio María de Hostos School in 1954, which she directed for 25 years until her retirement. In addition, she participated with Rubén del Rosario and Antonio Martorell in ABC de Puerto Rico, in 1968, a poetic Puerto Rican alphabet artistically illustrated. She also participated in the Modern Mathematics book collaboration at the elementary level.
After graduating from high school, she attended the University of Puerto Rico (UPR), where she earned a bachelor's degree in education. During her years as a college student, she advocated for the Puerto Rican independence movement. She continued her graduate studies at the UPR and then moved to Paris, France, for a year and studied comparative literature at the Sorbonne.
In her management as an educator, she founded the Eugenio María de Hostos School in 1954, which she directed for 25 years until her retirement. In addition, she participated with Rubén del Rosario and Antonio Martorell in ABC de Puerto Rico, in 1968, a poetic Puerto Rican alphabet artistically illustrated. She also participated in the Modern Mathematics book collaboration at the elementary level.