Dr. Ricardo Alegria - 1911 - 2011
On Thursday, July 7, 2011, Puerto Rico lost one of the giants in its history. Dr. Ricardo Alegria passed away from cardiac failure. He was without doubt one of those individuals that defines a nation. His accomplishments were magnificent to say the least.
I had the honor to have met and talked with Don Ricardo on a couple of occasions. He impressed me from the first time that i heard about him and his tenure as the director of the Institute for Puerto Rican Culture (ICP) for 18 years beginning in 1955. I came to become acquainted with Puerto Rican culture on my own here in the US. I have been living here since 1966, when my family moved here and I was 10 years old. I was bitten by the Puerto Rico culture bug in the early 1970's and by then Dr. Alegria had left the ICP and it was then that I learned about the Taino Native American and the African heritage of our people. It was then that I also became politically conscious and joined the movement to liberate Puerto Rico from the US.
Dr. Alegria defined to me Puerto Rican history and culture. His studies and legacies allow others to dig deeper into who we are and where we come from. He was a sympathizer of the independence movement and in the mid 1990's was a major figure in the events that came to be known as the "March of the Puerto Rican Nation". Dr. Alegria's was director of the ICP at a crucial time in the history of Puerto Rico. The independence movement was strong then. The Nationalist Party was still under the leadership of Don Pedro Albizu Campos, even though Don Pedro was in jail at the time.
Dr. Alegria to me can be credited with providing the intellectual arguments against those that claim that Puerto Rico does not have a history or a culture. He should be credited with allowing us to define for ourselves that at least on a cultural and historical basis we are not a part of the United States and should be an independent nation.
Below I reprint a short bio of his life and accomplishments so that we may honor him one day.
By Mariela Fullana Acosta / Primera Hora Newspaper, PR
(Our Translation)
Ricardo Alegria Gallardo was born in San Juan (Puerto Rico) on April 14, 1921. His childhood and adolescence was spent between San Juan and Loiza Aldea, where his grandmother had a farm in which he spent the summers. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras campus, and then obtained a master's degree in anthropology from the University of Chicago.
In the 1950's he gets a Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship which enabled him to pursue his doctorate at Harvard University where he earned his degree in anthropology and history.
Back in Puerto Rico, Alegria was noted for his studies of the indigenous history of Puerto Rico, embodied in many different archaeological research and academic work.
Within the study of ancient history in Puerto Rico, Ricardo Alegría deepened the study of the mix of Hispanic and African traditions that were found in the islands, with special attention to the survival of these traditions in the customs, lifestyles, folk art , religion and folklore of Loiza Aldea.
In his authorized biography, Ricardo Alegria: A Life, written by Dr. Carmen Dolores Hernandez, she notes that Alegria became the first professional anthropologist of Puerto Rico in 1947 when he was 26 years old. A year later he was appointed to the position of Assistant Director of the Museum of History, Anthropology and Art at the University of Puerto Rico, where he led efforts to document indigenous Puerto Rican prehistory.
In 1949, as property director, Alegría turned this space into the first art museum of the the country and an important center of anthropology and history.
Alegría also established the Center for Archaeological and Ethnographic Research which implemented the program of excavation and research, its main finding that Puerto Rico had two phases of the Arawak culture: the Igneri and Taíno.
The cultural vision of Alegría, according to Dolores Hernandez published in the newspaper El Nuevo Dia, "led the country into a radical awareness of the importance of Puerto Rican culture in all its forms, its strengthening and its conservation."
In 1949 the historian directed the filming of The Feast of Santiago The Apostle in Loiza, being the first full color documentary made in Puerto Rico.
In 1955 the historian is appointed as the director of the newly opened Institute of Puerto Rican Culture, which he directed for 18 years. This institution conducted work of great importance to establish a historic preservation program with which he could achieve the preservation and renovation of Old San Juan.
In 1973 Alegría became director of the Office of Cultural Affairs under the government of Rafael Hernández Colón. In 1976 he founded the Center for Advanced Studies of Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. In 1992 he founded the Museum of the Americas. He was also the founder and organizer of the School and Arts Workshops in Puerto Rico, was a promoter of the Biennial of Latin American Prints and Professor of Anthropology at the University of Puerto Rico.
Alegría, according to Dolores Hernandez, founded and directed important institutions, cultural centers and programs, established and directly contributed to the arts, archeology and historiography through books, plays, films and other cultural products.
As recently as last year, Alegría has published five volumes of a series of studies of historical documents of the sixteenth century. One unfinished project is for Puerto Rico to become part of UNESCO.
He received several awards and honors throughout his life, including the award-Shield-Cronic Award, awarded by the National Trust for Hispanic Preservation of the United States.
I had the honor to have met and talked with Don Ricardo on a couple of occasions. He impressed me from the first time that i heard about him and his tenure as the director of the Institute for Puerto Rican Culture (ICP) for 18 years beginning in 1955. I came to become acquainted with Puerto Rican culture on my own here in the US. I have been living here since 1966, when my family moved here and I was 10 years old. I was bitten by the Puerto Rico culture bug in the early 1970's and by then Dr. Alegria had left the ICP and it was then that I learned about the Taino Native American and the African heritage of our people. It was then that I also became politically conscious and joined the movement to liberate Puerto Rico from the US.
Dr. Alegria defined to me Puerto Rican history and culture. His studies and legacies allow others to dig deeper into who we are and where we come from. He was a sympathizer of the independence movement and in the mid 1990's was a major figure in the events that came to be known as the "March of the Puerto Rican Nation". Dr. Alegria's was director of the ICP at a crucial time in the history of Puerto Rico. The independence movement was strong then. The Nationalist Party was still under the leadership of Don Pedro Albizu Campos, even though Don Pedro was in jail at the time.
Dr. Alegria to me can be credited with providing the intellectual arguments against those that claim that Puerto Rico does not have a history or a culture. He should be credited with allowing us to define for ourselves that at least on a cultural and historical basis we are not a part of the United States and should be an independent nation.
Below I reprint a short bio of his life and accomplishments so that we may honor him one day.
By Mariela Fullana Acosta / Primera Hora Newspaper, PR
(Our Translation)
Ricardo Alegria Gallardo was born in San Juan (Puerto Rico) on April 14, 1921. His childhood and adolescence was spent between San Juan and Loiza Aldea, where his grandmother had a farm in which he spent the summers. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras campus, and then obtained a master's degree in anthropology from the University of Chicago.
In the 1950's he gets a Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship which enabled him to pursue his doctorate at Harvard University where he earned his degree in anthropology and history.
Back in Puerto Rico, Alegria was noted for his studies of the indigenous history of Puerto Rico, embodied in many different archaeological research and academic work.
Within the study of ancient history in Puerto Rico, Ricardo Alegría deepened the study of the mix of Hispanic and African traditions that were found in the islands, with special attention to the survival of these traditions in the customs, lifestyles, folk art , religion and folklore of Loiza Aldea.
In his authorized biography, Ricardo Alegria: A Life, written by Dr. Carmen Dolores Hernandez, she notes that Alegria became the first professional anthropologist of Puerto Rico in 1947 when he was 26 years old. A year later he was appointed to the position of Assistant Director of the Museum of History, Anthropology and Art at the University of Puerto Rico, where he led efforts to document indigenous Puerto Rican prehistory.
In 1949, as property director, Alegría turned this space into the first art museum of the the country and an important center of anthropology and history.
Alegría also established the Center for Archaeological and Ethnographic Research which implemented the program of excavation and research, its main finding that Puerto Rico had two phases of the Arawak culture: the Igneri and Taíno.
The cultural vision of Alegría, according to Dolores Hernandez published in the newspaper El Nuevo Dia, "led the country into a radical awareness of the importance of Puerto Rican culture in all its forms, its strengthening and its conservation."
In 1949 the historian directed the filming of The Feast of Santiago The Apostle in Loiza, being the first full color documentary made in Puerto Rico.
In 1955 the historian is appointed as the director of the newly opened Institute of Puerto Rican Culture, which he directed for 18 years. This institution conducted work of great importance to establish a historic preservation program with which he could achieve the preservation and renovation of Old San Juan.
In 1973 Alegría became director of the Office of Cultural Affairs under the government of Rafael Hernández Colón. In 1976 he founded the Center for Advanced Studies of Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. In 1992 he founded the Museum of the Americas. He was also the founder and organizer of the School and Arts Workshops in Puerto Rico, was a promoter of the Biennial of Latin American Prints and Professor of Anthropology at the University of Puerto Rico.
Alegría, according to Dolores Hernandez, founded and directed important institutions, cultural centers and programs, established and directly contributed to the arts, archeology and historiography through books, plays, films and other cultural products.
As recently as last year, Alegría has published five volumes of a series of studies of historical documents of the sixteenth century. One unfinished project is for Puerto Rico to become part of UNESCO.
He received several awards and honors throughout his life, including the award-Shield-Cronic Award, awarded by the National Trust for Hispanic Preservation of the United States.
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