The Evolution of a Revolutionary

Researching and Teaching Pedro Albizu Campos in Connecticut

October 10, 2024

Salons at Stowe: Stowe Prize Series
A series of discussions, lectures, and panels expanding on the themes of our Stowe Prize for Literary Activism winning book, Dr. Bettina L. Love’s Punished for Dreaming: How School Reform Harms Black Children and How We Heal.

PEDRO ALBIZU CAMPOS

Pedro Albizu Campos was the premier leader of the Puerto Rican nationalist movement in the 20^th Century and has inspired millions within the Puerto Rican diaspora and beyond. This panel will present new scholarship and digital resources that broaden our understanding of Albizu Campos’ development as an advocate for the liberation of Puerto Rico from the US. The recent implementation of the Black and Puerto Rican Studies Curriculum in Connecticut Schools provides an opportunity to discuss how these materials may be utilized by K-12 educators.

Moderator: Anthony De Jesús, University of St. Joseph

Panelists: Efrain Agosto, Williams College; Daniel Ibarrondo, Scholar and Educator; Rachel Torres, Newtown High School History Department

Time: 7:00 – 8:30 PM EST
Cost: FREE
Format: Hybrid – invite friends across the country!

ABOUT OUR GUESTS

Dr. Anthony De Jesús (he, him, él) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Social Work and Equitable Community Practice and Director of the MSW Program at the University of Saint Joseph in West Hartford, CT. Dr. De Jesús previously served as an Assistant Professor at the Silberman School of Social Work and a Researcher and Interim Director at the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College (CUNY). He teaches courses on Research and Culture, Diversity and Human Rights and has conducted research on workforce development and culturally responsive services in community based mental health, child welfare and youth services.

Efraín Agosto is Boskey Visiting Professor in Latina/o Studies at Williams College. He has also taught at Hartford Seminary and New York Theological Seminary. Efraín is a Puerto Rican born and raised in New York City, and holds degrees from Columbia University, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and Boston University. He recently received a research grant from the Louisville Institute to pursue archival studies on the religion of Pedro Albizu Campos, about whom he has published several essays, including “The Religion of Albizu: Spirituality in the Decolonizing Efforts of a Twentieth Century Puerto Rican Independence Movement Leader” in the edited volume Decolonial Horizons: Reshaping Synodality, Mission, and Social Justice (2023).

Dr. Daniel Ibarrondo’s interest in the life of Pedro Albizu Campos began during his high school years in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, leading to a lifelong pursuit of understanding Albizu’s formative years. In 2021- 2024, he focused on correcting misconceptions about Albizu’s student years at the University of Vermont and Harvard University. Dr. Ibarrondo has cataloged Albizu’s university archival documents, available at www.donpedroalbizucampos.com. He has two forthcoming books, Pedro Albizu Campos: The Harvard University Documents and Pedro Albizu Campos: Formative Years (1893-1923), to be published in 2025.

Ms. Rachel Torres is a proud Nuyorican from the Bronx who transplanted to CT over 20 years ago. She is an educator at Newtown High School and teaches 9th Grade World History and about Pedro Albizu Campos in her Black and Latino Studies elective, which is also an Early College Experience course. She also serves as Advisor to the Geography Team and the club, Students Advocating for Diversity and Equity (SADE).

Location Stowe Visitor Center / Zoom

Doors Open 6:45 PM

Program 7:00 - 8:30 PM EST

School Group Interest Form

School Group Interest Form 2024

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Isabella Beecher Hooker

Isabella Holmes Beecher Hooker (1822-1907)
An ardent member of the woman’s suffrage movement, Isabella Holmes Beecher Hooker joined in the cause along with Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony.

Isabella was the first child of Lyman Beecher and his second wife, Harriet Porter Beecher.

Isabella began her education at Catharine Beecher’s Hartford Female Seminary and lived with her sister Mary Perkins. In 1841 she married John Hooker, a descendant of Thomas Hooker, the founder of Hartford. John Hooker was a lawyer and an abolitionist.

In the early 1860s Isabella got involved in the woman’s suffrage movement. Isabella joined Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony as a member of the National Woman’s Suffrage Association in 1869. She was a founding member of the Connecticut Woman’s Suffrage Association. Isabella’s ideas of equality were influenced by John Stuart Mills’ On Liberty and the Subjection of Women.

In 1871, Isabella organized the annual convention of the National Woman’s Suffrage Association in Washington D.C. and presented her argument before the Committee on the Judiciary of the United States Senate. Her husband, John Hooker, believed in his wife and supported her activities. He helped Isabella draft a bill to the Connecticut Legislature giving married women the same property rights as their husbands. The bill passed in 1877. Isabella annually submitted a bill granting women the right to vote, but it did not pass in her lifetime.