Luisa Capetillo
Luisa Capetillo (
October 28,
1879 –
October 10,
1922) born in
Arecibo, Puerto Rico, was one of Puerto Rico's most famous labor organizers. She was also a
writer and an
anarchist who fought for workers and women's rights.
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Luisa Capetillo |
Capetillo was raised and
home schooled by her parents, who were both very
liberal in regard to their
philosophical and
political ideologies.
In
1898, Capetillo had the first of her two children out of wedlock. She found a job as a reader in a
cigar making factory in Arecibo. After the
Spanish-American War, The American Tobacco Company gained control of most of the islands
tobacco fields, who would hire people to read novels and current events to the workers. It was in the tobacco factory that Capetillo had her first contact with the Unions. In
1904, Capetillo began to write
essays, titled "Mi Opinion" (My Opinion), about her ideas, which were published in
radical and
union newspapers.
During a farm workers'
strike in
1905, Capetillo wrote
propaganda and organized the workers in the strike. She quickly became a leader of the "FLT" (
American Federation of Labor) and traveled throughout Puerto Rico educating and organizing women. Her hometown, Arecibo, became the most unionized area of the country.
In
1908, during the "FLT" convention, Capetillo asked the union to approve a policy for
women's suffrage. She insisted that all women should have the same right to
vote as men. Capetillo is considered to be one of Puerto Rico's first
suffragists.
In
1912, Capetillo traveled to
New York City where she organized
Cuban and
Puerto Rican tobacco workers. Later on, she went to
Tampa, Florida where she also organized the workers. It is in
Florida that she published the second edition of "Mi Opinion". She also traveled to
Cuba and the
Dominican Republic, where she joined the striking workers in their cause.
In
1919, she challenged the mainstream
society by becoming the first woman in Puerto Rico to wear pants in public. Capetillo was sent to jail for what was then considered to be a "crime", but, the judge later dropped the charges against her. In that same year, along with other labor activists, she helped pass a minimum-wage law in the Puerto Rican Legislature.
Luisa Capetillo died on October 10, 1922 in Puerto Rico from
tuberculosis.
In
1990 a made for
T.V. movie titled
"Luisa Capetillo, pasión de justicia" (Luisa Capetillo, passion for justice) was made. It was directed by Sonia Fritz and the musical arrangements were made by
Zoraida Santiago. In
Arecibo there is a Casa Protegida Luisa Capetillo, which is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to defend women who have been mistreated pysically or mentally. The
University of Puerto Rico, Cayey Campus established the Luisa Capetillo Center of Documentation Hall in March
1990. The center is part of the Women Studies project started in
1986 by the university and has received financial help from the
Angel Ramos fundation.
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List of famous Puerto Ricans
