BERNARDO VEGA, a cigar worker from Puerto Rico, migrated to New York in 1916 at 30. He lived and worked there for over 35 years. Through his memoirs, we gain valuable insights into the establishment and progress of the Puerto Rican community in New York during a critical period before the Great Migration that followed World War II.
Vega was born in 1885 in Cayey, Puerto Rico. He was raised in a socialist family, and his family worked in the tobacco industry. The tabaqueros (cigar workers) were among the most enlightened groups of the Puerto Rican working class.
In the early 1930s, Vega became a part of a small Hispanic community in New York City, which included Puerto Ricans, Cubans, and Spaniards. Due to migration from the island, the Puerto Rican population in the U.S. had reached almost 53,000 people by 1930, most of whom resided in New York City.
In the late 19th century, many cigar-making factories were established in the city and other states, creating job opportunities for workers in the tobacco industry from Puerto Rico and Cuba. Vega arrived during this period and found employment at one of these factories.
Vega was an active member of the socialist labor movement in Puerto Rico. Since the early 1900s, the movement fought for workers’ rights and against exploitation in the sugar, tobacco, and needle industries. These industries were mainly controlled by absentee capital, which dominated the island’s economy after the U.S. invasion of 1898.
After moving to New York, Vega worked several low-paying jobs. Although he was a skilled cigar roller, he struggled to find work in the field. However, Vega established connections with workers and members of the Cigarmakers’ Union, affiliated with the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and the Socialist Club in the city. Finally, after several months of searching, he landed a job at the El Morito cigar factory, which was located near his boarding house. While working there, Vega learned about the involvement of the artisan tabaqueros in the Antillean separatist movement and even met some of its elders.
In 1920, as a result of industrial changes in the tobacco industry and the severe unemployment in the factories and workshops caused by the economic downturn in the city and other parts of the United States, Vega joined the writing team for “The Tobacco Worker” (1920-19??) and became a union organizer.
Vega was also a member of Alianza Obrera Puertorriqueña (1922), along with Jesús Colón and Luis Muñoz Marín, the Ateneo Obrero (1926), where he served as President, the Liga Puertorriqueña e Hispana (1927), and the Club Eugenio María de Hostos (1932).
He was involved in various journalistic activities over the years. 1927 Vega purchased the Spanish-language weekly “Gráfico” (1926-1931). The newspaper was started a year before by a group of Puerto Rican and other Hispanic tobacco workers, writers, artists, and other community members who frequently contributed to the publication.
“Gráfico” was one of several Spanish-language newspapers that aimed to promote unity among the various Hispanic groups living in the city, mainly comprised of Spaniards, Cubans, and Puerto Ricans. They also aimed to develop a sense of pan-ethnic “Hispanismo.” Vega worked as the editor of “Gráfico” for several years and later became a frequent contributor to other New York Spanish-language publications, such as the newspaper “Liberación” (1946-1949). “Liberación” was started by Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) exiles in New York who were fighting against Generalísimo Francisco Franco’s fascist regime in Spain.
Vega also wrote for Spanish-language periodicals in the city and joined the political campaigns of Vito Marcantonio, a congressman who represented East Harlem and supported the Puerto Rican community. Vega also participated in Henry Wallace’s unsuccessful presidential campaign.
In the 1940s, Vega wrote a historical account that included fictional stories about the Puerto Rican presence in the United States, dating back to events over 50 years before he arrived in New York. He provided a detailed account of his own experiences and those of other Puerto Rican pioneer migrants during the formative decades of New York’s Puerto Rican community, which spanned the period between the two world wars (1918-1939). The book offers a unique perspective on the early days of one of the largest Hispanic communities in the United States.
In the 1950s, Vega returned to Puerto Rico, shared his completed manuscript with his socialist friend and political comrade, the Puerto Rican journalist and novelist César Andreu Iglesias, and asked for editorial help and advice. The project was postponed indefinitely since Vega and Andreu Iglesias disagreed on editorial suggestions. It was not until after Vega died in 1965 that Iglesias honored the memory of his old friend and edited and published a shorter and modified version of the original manuscript under the title “Memorias de Bernardo Vega: Una contribución a la historia de la comunidad puertorriqueña en Nueva York” (1977).
Since it was first published, the book has become an invaluable resource for documenting Puerto Ricans’ history and present situation in New York City. The book also played a critical role in dispelling myths about Puerto Ricans being passive and lacking community organization in the diaspora. Vega paints a different picture of the community, emphasizing their persistent efforts to survive and flourish despite social and racial marginalization. Puerto Ricans have proven themselves to be a resilient and determined community through their collective involvement in the struggle for socioeconomic well-being, cultural and political development, and opposition to social and racial injustices.
In 1984, Juan Flores, a renowned scholar of cultural and literary studies of the diaspora and associated with the Center for Puerto Rican Studies, translated and published an English edition of the book.
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