A worker on a pineapple plantation near Manati.
Image: Library of Congress
From its first inhabitation by Taíno natives to its centuries of rule under Spain and later the United States, Puerto Rico has developed a culture and character unique among the islands of the Caribbean.
In the late 1930s and early ‘40s, photographers from the Farm Security Administration visited the island to document the working conditions of plantation laborers cultivating sugarcane, tobacco, and other crops, as well as daily life both in the capital of San Juan and in remote mountain villages.
Photographer Jack Delano became so enamored with the people and way of life that he made Puerto Rico his permanent home.
A tobacco farm in the Puerto Rico Rehabilitation Administration agricultural experiment area near Cayey.
Image: Library of Congress
Farmers cultivate tobacco near Barranquitas.
Image: Library of Congress
A worker cuts sugarcane on a plantation.
Image: Library of Congress
The family of an FSA borrower near Barranquitas.
Image: Library of Congress
Farmers cultivate tobacco near Barranquitas.
Image: Library of Congress
Members of a glee club sing during a party for FSA borrowers in Corozal.
Image: Library of Congress
San Juan.
Image: Library of Congress
Farmers' wives who live in the hills near Corozal.
Image: Library of Congress
A boy on the road near Corozal.
Image: Library of Congress
Boys in a slum in Yauco.
Image: Library of Congress
A worker on a sugar plantation pauses for a lunch of rice, beans, and papaya.
Image: Library of Congress
A family in a slum in Yauco.
Image: Library of Congress
A street in the town of Lares.
Image: Library of Congress
Striking sugar workers at a meeting in Yabucoa.
Image: Library of Congress
A meeting of striking workers in Yabucoa.
Image: Library of Congress
The mayor of Yabucoa addresses a crowd of striking workers in the town plaza.
Image: Library of Congress
A man trims a fighting cock in Utuado.
Image: Library of Congress
A pineapple plantation near Corozal.
Image: Library of Congress
A street vendor in Santurce.
Image: Library of Congress
Laborers on a sugar plantation near Arecibo.
Image: Library of Congress
Laborers harvest sugarcane from a burned field near Guanica.
Image: Library of Congress
An ox cart driver in a burned sugar cane field near Guanica.
Image: Library of Congress
Laborers harvest sugarcane near Guanica.
Image: Library of Congress
A worker on a sugar plantation takes a drink of water.
Image: Library of Congress
A cartload of sugarcane near Guanica.
Image: Library of Congress
A worker unloads sugarcane at a depot in San Sebastian.
Image: Library of Congress
A man in a slum area in Utuado.
Image: Library of Congress
Children in Utuado.
Image: Library of Congress
A woman working in a tobacco field near Barranquitas.
Image: Library of Congress
A beggar and child in San Juan.
Image: Library of Congress
A street in San Juan.
Image: Library of Congress
A street vendor in Yauco.
Image: Library of Congress
Jíbaros (traditional farmers of the mountainous interior of the island) plant tobacco in a hillside.
Image: Library of Congress
A woman who lives on land in Santurce that the FSA is buying for a land and utility housing project.
Image: Library of Congress
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