Arthur Yager Papers, 1913-1921 | WorldCat.org (original) (raw)

Summary:Collection contains the accumulated papers of Arthur Yager during his service as Governor of Puerto Rico (1913-1921). Correspondence in the collection pertains to Yager's activities as governor, specifically his appointments, proposed legislation, and handling of labor and economic issues on the island. Correspondence discusses in detail Yager's efforts towards the eventual passage of the Jones Act of 1917, which granted U.S. citizenship to Puerto Ricans and reorganized the island's government and relationship to the United States. Other topics discussed in the collection include: labor strikes, economic conditions, the coffee and sugar industries, prohibition, the 1918 earthquake, Puerto Rican elections and political parties, the court system, disease, tourism, World War I, administration of the draft, migrant labor, foreign relations, education, general social conditions of the island, and Kentucky politics. Correspondents of note include presidents Woodrow Wilson, Calvin Coolidge, Warren G. Harding, and Herbert Hoover; Secretary of War Newton Baker; Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels; Resident Commissioners of Puerto Rico Felix Cordova-Davila and Luis Munoz-Rivera; AFL leaders Samuel Gompers and Santiago Iglesias; Congressmen William A. Jones, John F. Shafroth, Ollie M. James, and John W. Weeks; Secretary of Puerto Rico Martin Travieso, Jr.; and Frank McIntyre, Chief of the Bureau of Insular Affairs