"El Fanguito"
Description
View of a community known as "El Fanguito" in the town of San Juan. In the foreground, a body of water can be seen surrounded by a fence made of metal bars and wood. There are several wooden houses on stilts and wooden entrance stairs. The roofs are hipped and made of zinc. The residences have double wooden windows and single doors. Some houses have a small balcony with wooden balustrades. Wooden dividing fences and clotheslines are visible.| Origin Name |
CAJ_0026_F0001_R
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| Relation |
Archivo de Arquitectura y Construcción de la Universidad de Puerto Rico > Colección Carol F. Jopling > Caja 1 -Fotografías
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| Geographical Coverage |
San Juan
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| Date |
1946-07
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| Descriptive Notes |
The title, date, and address were provided by the Architecture and Construction Archive of the University of Puerto Rico (AACUPR). In the file provided by the archive, the following is clarified: "Fotógrafo: Rotkin, Charles E." The original photograph belongs to the General Archive of Puerto Rico (No. 5117). On the back of the image, there are handwritten notes that read: "Fig. 46, Same as X5116, CAJ|0026|F0001". There are repeated photos among the files of this collection because they document different photographic formats created for the project. Examples: 35mm negatives, color, black and white, instant photography, photos that were brightened or with contrast.
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| Descripción decolonial |
The extensive slum, “El Fanguito” (“The Mudhole”), in San Juan unveils a landscape of hardship in the colonial economy of Puerto Rico in the mid-twentieth century. Wooden houses on stilts, hipped zinc roofs, and meager entrances underscore economic deprivation. Small balconies and clotheslines mark exiguous dreams. The metal and wooden fence that encloses the community’s central bog mirrors societal divisions. In a treatise to President Harry S. Truman, the National Chairman of the Communist Party, William Z. Foster once observed: “El Fanguito” “is the very symbol of human misery, exploitation, and human despair. It is also no less the symbol of American domination over Puerto Rico.” Foster’s words offer us a stark testament to the urgent need for equitable change, which continues to this day. The mudhole has since been cleared, razed, and built over with seven-story apartment buildings in the 1950s, resulting in a massive community displacement alongside new government investments. Dwelling on memories of mud and misery, the “Fanguito” continues to have symbolic power in the island’s ongoing struggle for dignity, sovereignty, and fair treatment.
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| Historical Background | |
| Architectural Subject |
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| Decolonial Subject | |
| Rights |
English Rights. (hyperlink)
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| Editor |
Fundación Luis Muñoz Marín
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| Resource Format |
JPEG
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| Resource Type |
Image
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/Colección Carol F. Jopling/Caja 1 - Fotografías/CAJ_0026_F0001_R.jpg&action=download){kind=link}