“Imperial Circuits” and the Boundaries of a City: Puerto Rican Migration during the Mid-Twentieth Century (original) (raw)

Half a million Puerto Ricans migrated to the mainland between 1945 and 1960, prompting the largest overseas migration since the implementation of the 1924 quotas limiting foreign entry into the United States (Meléndez, p. 13). As U.S. citizens, Puerto Ricans were protected from regulations restricting foreign immigration, yet most still experienced challenges with finding adequate housing, employment, and access to education. For many urban historians, these issues might immediately call to mind Jacob Riis' iconic photographs of the tenements in turn-of-thecentury New York City, and it is therefore tempting to compare the mid-century Puerto Rican migration with large waves of migration from Europe half a century prior. But historians of Puerto Rican migration warn us about making such comparisons, notably since the relationship of Puerto Rican migrants to the United States and their status as citizens create significant differences between those two examples. So how should scholars of urban history think about Puerto Rican migration during the second half of the twentieth century? Pairing the recent books by Edgardo Meléndez and Mirelsie Velázquez offer an opportunity to consider what is distinct about Puerto Rican migration and how a consideration of empire can expand our spatial framing of a city and who is considered part of the urban community. Edgardo Meléndez's The "Puerto Rican Problem" in Postwar New York City is the first comprehensive account detailing the emergence, evolution, and impact of the "Puerto Rican problem" campaign. The earliest widespread reaction to the entry of Puerto Ricans to the United States, the "Puerto Rican problem" campaign "focused on a number of 'problems' posed by the arrival of the new migrants-from housing overcrowding to unemployment, education, crime, and diseases-and pointed particularly to the group's inability to assimilate to the host society" (p. 13). Meléndez historicizes the "problem" by examining its circulation in both conservative and liberal newspapers as well as in studies conducted by government agencies and universities, in addition to drawing attention to how these negative ideas shaped politics and policy such as the 1947 Puerto Rican migration law and the 1949 New York City mayoral election. Using documents from Puerto Rico and New York City, Meléndez meticulously traces the evolution of the "Puerto Rican problem" from both vantage points. In doing so, he not only demonstrates how the fears associated with Puerto Rican migration to New York City changed over time, but also how 1187654J UHXXX10.