 Puerto Rican
Puerto Rico was annexed by the United States from Spain in 1898, with Puerto Ricans
granted U.S. citizenship by birth in 1917. As a result, Puerto Ricans in the mainland
United States are not "immigrants" in the literal sense of the term.
The majority of Puerto Rican immigration to the United States has occurred since
the end of the Second World War. As of 1940, there were fewer than 70,000 Puerto
Ricans living on the mainland. After the war, an abundance of employment opportunities
to drew large numbers of Puerto Ricans to New York and other U.S. industrial centers.
Today, there are more than 2.5 million people of Puerto Rican ancestry living in
the United States, with almost 1 million of these residing in New York City.
Puerto Rican immigration has tended to be highly fluid, with many Puerto Ricans
moving to the mainland and back to the island several times during the course of their lives.
Contacts and Sources
Institute of Genealogy and History for Latin America
316 West 500 North
St. George, UT 84770
Telephone: (801) 652-1710
Fax: (801) 674-5787
E-mail: lplatt@infowest.com
For more information about the Institute of Genealogy and History for Latin
America, see the topic Institute of Genealogy and History
for Latin America.
Hispanic Genealogical Society of New York
The Puerto Rican Cultural Heritage House
1230 Fifth Avenue
New York, New York 10025
Telephone: (212) 532-3662
Web site: http://www.webcom.com/hgsny/
E-mail: HGSNY@AOL.com
Web Sites
- In Helpful Web Sites,
you can find links to useful resources about
Puerto Rico.
Books
- Puerto Rico: Research Guide, by Lyman D. Platt
- Puerto Rican Americans: The Meaning of Migration to the Mainland, by
Joseph P. Fitzpatrick
- Puerto Rican Poverty and Migration: We Just Had to Try Elsewhere, by Julio Morales
For some tips on researching abroad, see the topic All about
international resources.
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