Black Puerto Rican Futures

Black Puerto Rican Futures is a three-year initiative that reclaims and restores Black Puerto Rican history of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It is an archival project that recovers the historical records of Black Puerto Ricans, enslaved and free, during the last decades under the Spanish Empire, and retrieves the books, pamphlets, and newspaper articles written by Black Puerto Ricans as they actively participated in the fight for Puerto Rico’s future during the first decades under the United States.

Archives of Puerto Rican Slavery Map

The Archives of Puerto Rican Slavery Map is a digital tool that expands access to primary sources related to the lives of enslaved and emancipated people in Puerto Rico. Drawing on knowledge developed over years of related research, this living tool brings together information about accessing collections related to the people subjected to slavery and its afterlives in Puerto Rico. Each pin on the map provides key details for using that archive - its physical location, hours of operation and contact information, collections guides, procedures to access, and real-time directions. End users, from researchers and genealogists to those with a thirst for this knowledge, can find answers to the pressing questions of "where do I start?" and "where can I go next?" This map is part of a broader suite of tools meant to support researchers' ability to find, interpret, and ethically engage the archives of Puerto Rican slavery.

Additional Archival Collections

Because racial slavery was hemispheric in scope and Puerto Rico has been a colony under two imperial powers, the work of researching the lives of enslaved people in Puerto Rico often demands research beyond its shores. Please look back here in the future for more information about archives relevant to the lives of enslaved and emancipated people in Puerto Rico.