History of women in Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico has participated in the Olympics, since the 1948 Summer Olympics, which were celebrated in London, as an independent nation. However, since Puerto Ricans have American citizenship, Puerto Rican athletes have the option of representing Puerto Rico or moving to the United States where after living there for 3 years or more they can represent that country in the games. Some Puerto Ricans, such as Gigi Fernández in tennis, have won gold medals for the U.S. Also, women who are of Puerto Rican heritage are considered by the Government of Puerto Rico to be "Puerto Rican Citizens". Since 2007, the Government of Puerto Rico has been issuing "Certificates of Puerto Rican Citizenship" to anyone born in Puerto Rico or to anyone born outside of Puerto Rico with at least one parent who was born in Puerto Rico.
Puerto Rican migration to New York City
In 1917, the United States entered World War I and that same year the United States Congress approved the Jones-Shafroth Act which gave Puerto Ricans U.S. citizenship. Puerto Ricans no longer needed a passport to travel to the U.S. and were allowed to seek public office in the mainland U.S. The economic situation in the island was bad and continued to worsen as a result of the many hurricanes which destroyed most of its crops. Many Puerto Rican families migrated to the United States, the bulk of whom went to New York, in search of a better way of life. In New York, they faced the same hardships and discrimination that earlier groups of immigrants, such as the Irish, the Italians, and the Jews, had faced before them. It was difficult for them to find well paying jobs because of the language barrier and their lack of technical working skills. The few men who found jobs worked for low salaries in factories. The women usually stayed home as housewives and tended to their children. Those who did not find jobs had the option of joining the United States Military. Prior to the Jones-Shafroth Act, Puerto Ricans in the mainland United States as all other non-citizens, who were permanent residents were required to register with the Selective Service System by law and could be drafted, however one of the effects of the Act was that all Puerto Ricans were now eligible for the military "draft" (conscription). One of the military units at that time was New York's U.S. 369th Infantry Regiment. Rafael Hernández was a Puerto Rican who served in the almost all Afro-American unit. The unit fought against the Germans in France and became known as the "Harlem Hell Fighters". Hernández, his brother Jesus and 16 other Puerto Ricans was assigned to the United States Army's Harlem Hell fighters musical band, the Orchestra Europe.
Nero Chen was one of the many Puerto Ricans who settled in East Harlem. He became the first Puerto Rican boxer to gain acclaim when in 1917 he fought against "Panama Joe Gans" at Harlem's Palace Casino which was located at 28 East 135th St., between Fifth and Madison Avenues, in Manhattan. As evidenced by an early 1924 poster, migrants in New York organized baseball teams which played against each other. The poster announces a game which was held at Howard Field in Brooklyn between two teams, the San Juan B.B.C. and the Porto Rican Stars, made of Puerto Ricans from the East Side section of Manhattan.