Borinquen MadePeriod
1950-1999
The entries in this magazine that fall in these years, in the order the events occurred. Freeze 2026-08-22. Not current events in these History essays; News is. Not original historical research.
ICP, 1955
Law 89 of June 21, 1955; Ricardo Alegría, first director.
Pablo Casals and the Casals Festival
How a Catalan cellist became a symbol of Puerto Rican musical prestige, and what his festival did for the island's cultural ambitions.
Hurricane Santa Clara, 1956
The late-season hurricane that hit the island in August 1956.
Hurricane Santa Clara, 1956
In 1956, a hurricane moved through the island and its aftermath became part of the modern development story.
Diaspora parades
Fifth Avenue as an annual audience, since 1958.
The Puerto Rican Day Parade
The parade that began as one man's tribute and became the largest celebration of Puerto Rican culture in the world.
The Nuyorican literary movement
A literature written in the space between two languages, two islands, and two names for the same people.
Island residents and the presidency
A presidential vote for island residents, in the numbers, the law, and the honest floor.
Plebiscite, July 23, 1967
The Free Associated State wins the first status plebiscite.
The 1967 status plebiscite
Puerto Rico's first vote on its own status also fractured its pro-statehood movement and gave birth to the party that would govern the island for decades.
The Young Lords
A Chicago street gang became one of the era's most effective community-organizing movements, running its own clinics.
Luis A. Ferré and the 1968 election
The man who won the governorship for statehood for the first time, then governed for everyone.
The Young Lords, 1969
July 26, 1969 in Tompkins Square; a politics of breakfast.
Culebra and the Navy protests
An island of a few thousand people took on the United States Navy, and won.
Salsa at the core of Puerto Rico
The Fania sound in New York; the Cuban roots are named, not annexed.
Nuyorican culture
A living-room space in 1973, then a cafe.
The Navy leaves Culebra, 1975
The end of the bombing, the beginning of the cleanup, and the victory the island still quotes.
Tibes, Ponce
The 1975 flood uncovered an older ceremonial center.
Menudo
A boy band built on a ruthless premise became a genuine Latin American pop juggernaut. Its later reckoning also matters.
Cerro Maravilla
Two young men, ten police officers, and a cover-up that changed the island's politics forever.