Underneath North Carolina: The Buried Legacies of Puerto Rican War Workers

UNCP Author/Contributor (non-UNCP co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Jessica Carolina Muñiz (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Pembroke (UNCP )
Web Site: http://www.uncp.edu/academics/library
Advisor
Michele Fazio

Abstract: Abstract: In 1918, the U.S. Department of Labor hired 13,233 Puerto Ricans to work on war-related projects to fulfill the labor shortage caused by America's entry into World War I. Recruiters promised laborers a living wage, free housing accommodations, meals, and hospitable conditions during their contracted period. Between the months of September and November 1918, the federal government shipped 3,809 newly recruited laborers from Puerto Rico to North Carolina with the task of constructing the military base Camp Bragg. However, due to the lack of basic resources, the influenza epidemic, unequal access to medical services, racial discrimination, and poor government planning, many Puerto Ricans died with a short amount of item on American soil. Despite their U.S. citizenship and government-sponsored labor recruitment, Puerto Rican war workers experienced exploitative conditions that led to an innumerable number of deaths largely unexplored until now--a century later.

Additional Information

Publication
Honors Project
Language: English
Date: 2022

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