I would first like to say thank you to CLLAS and CSWS for their support. I was able to do archival research this summer to investigate how enslaved women were spoken about, represented, and written on colonial documents from Puerto Rico. In total, I was able to visit three archival centers: the National Historic Archive of Madrid, the General Archive of the Indies in Sevilla, and the General Archive of Puerto Rico.

My experience was both stimulating and challenging for various reasons. The first difficulty I encountered while in Spain was the age of some of the documents. Some were old and dry. Additionally, the Spanish archival system was very robust and bureaucratic. When researching documents related to gender discourses, I found that many of these documents talked about Puerto Rico’s enslaved population through the use of statistics, numbers, or part of royal decrees and legal cases. This was still revelatory since many of the articles consulted in Madrid and Sevilla reflected the anxieties of the Spanish crown to control their enslaved population and prevent slave revolts.

Documents consulted in the General Archive of Puerto Rico reflected a strong preoccupation about enslaved people who ran away and the enslaved populations desire for rebellion. While most of the documents from Madrid and Sevilla were under different royal administrative units, and tended to be more technical, in Puerto Rico, I was able to read more personal testimonies and narratives from the perspective of those that ruled at the time.

One of the most revealing documents was letters written by various mayors to the governor of Puerto Rico, Miguel de la Torre, where they discussed fugitive slaves or described instances of runaway slaves. With letters, I was able to identify how some enslaved people escaped with their family, including enslaved women, or cases where enslaved women escaped by themselves. This challenges some views that one might have regarding those who resisted slavery, especially those associated with the term “maroon”. Maroon comes from the Spanish “cimarrón” which was a term initially used by the Spanish colonist to refer to escaped pigs in Hispaniola, and eventually was applied to runaway slaves. Most of the literature about marronage speaks of a generic “maroon” subject, which in Spanish is render as a masculine “cimarron”, however, part of the documents I consulted in tandem with a book a recently discovered during my stay in Puerto Rico, revealed the participation of enslaved women in anti-slavery resistance.1 This archival research allowed me to center the female “cimarrona” as part of the resistance and rejection of slavery in the Caribbean.

From this research, I became acquainted with the different types of documents found in each archive and realized the need to expand my research to other archives, such as those of municipal Catholic Churches. I will use this research to support my analysis on gender and slavery for the fourth chapter of my dissertation and continue working on this topic for future projects. Thank you CLLAS.

Celebrate with us! CLLAS and Latinx Studies are proud to host a special awards ceremony and reception honoring the outstanding undergraduate students who have received awards from our departments. Join us as we recognize their achievements and dedication to academic excellence.

• Date: May 31st  
• Time: 4pm-5pm
• Location: EMU Crater Lake Rooms
• Event will include food and light refreshments

You’re invited to the 2024 Biennial Latino Roots Celebration! Join us for an unforgettable evening of storytelling and cultural celebration as University of Oregon students present their short documentary films on the experiences of Latino Oregonians. Explore themes of identity, community, and resilience through these powerful films, and connect with the filmmakers and community members following the screenings. Don’t miss out on this special event!

• Date: June 6th  
• Time: 4pm-6pm  
• Location: University of Oregon, EMU Ballroom (Room 224) 
• Event will include live music, food, and light refreshments