In February 1944 a thirty-nine year old itinerant architect named Heinrich “Henry” Klumb moved from Los Angeles, California to the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico. He went there for what was supposed to be a short-term, public works job with the island’s provincial government. Encouraged to relocate to the island by a long-time friend and former business partner, Klumb had arrived at an opportune time. The 1940s would turn out to be a period of significant transformations on the island. As Puerto Rico was wholly an American protectorate (Spain had ceded the island to the United States in 1898 following the Spanish-American War), the administration of the island was a joint affair between the United States federal government and a limited local government. There was a popularly elected Senate and House of Representatives, for example, but Puerto Ricans lacked a local constitution and the governor was still a political appointee (selected by the American president). Within this framework, local politicians and reformers were promoting political, economic, and social changes with far-reaching consequences. These political actors wanted to shift the local economic base from agriculture to manufacturing. The intent was to catch up with other industrialized nations, alleviate many of the island’s social and economic ills, and engender greater political and economic autonomy from the United States. Along with these goals there was an impetus to build – schools, public housing, hospitals, government buildings, and the infrastructure for a tourism industry that was expected to grow after the Second World War. Moreover, this postwar transformation project was to feature a new, postcolonial face. (Read on here.)
|
Proudly powered by Weebly