Packing and Washing of Oranges at Arecibo Cannery - PRAHA

Packing and Washing of Oranges at Arecibo Cannery

Description

Interior of the Canning Cooperative, Arecibo Cannery, of the Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration (PRRA) in the town of Arecibo. There are workers using the machinery for washing oranges that will later be packed. The building is industrial, made of concrete, with large windows and columns in the center. Objects that are used daily such as boxes, transport carts for boxes, and the machine that supports the washing are visible.

Origin Name	PRA 0050 F0001
Relation	Archivo de Arquitectura y Construcción de la Universidad de Puerto Rico > Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration > Cartapacio 11
Geographical Coverage	Arecibo
Date	1938
Descriptive Notes	Title assigned by the cataloguing team. The general description contains information provided by the Architectural and Construction Archive of the University of Puerto Rico (AACUPR).
Descripción decolonial	The Cooperative of the Arecibo Cannery (shown here) epitomizes the Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration (PRRA)’s push for agricultural cooperatives in 1930s Puerto Rico. The gendered and racial rhetoric of the image is also reminiscent of other Works Progress Administration (WPA)-era promotional documents, with men of European descent at work among large machines representing “progress,” while also speaking to the gendered and racial hierarchies of the machine age. The image also represents an important intervention by the government, aiming to support smaller more sustainable farms over exploitative sugar magnates. As PRRA reformers recognized small farming's inefficiency against corporate giants, they invested in cooperatives. Eleven received $6 million, including fruit and vegetable growers’ cooperatives in Arecibo, Jayuya, and Río Grande. These initiatives aimed to counter corporate control, offering economic leverage and direct market access, bypassing middlemen. The move from competition to cooperation reshaped Puerto Rico's agricultural landscape, necessitating re-education for workers alienated by wage labor. Cooperatives, a global phenomenon, became a tool for small-scale producers to navigate economic shifts and retain local autonomy amid external pressures, embodying an early form of economic nationalism.
Historical Background	The Great Economic Depression and the New Deal: The Puerto Rico Emergency Relief Administration (PRERA) and the Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration (PRRA) Architecture in Puerto Rico: Twentieth Century (1898-1940)
Architectural Subject	Factories (structures) Coooperatives (business enterprises) Industrialization Industrial structures Industry (economic concept) Workplace Workers Interior spaces (spaces by location) Mass production Washing (cleaning) Machinery Boxes (containers) Wood (plant material) Concrete Fruit Oranges (fruits) Packaging Columns (architectural elements) Windows Walls
Decolonial Subject	Cooperatives Agricultural Development
Rights	The PRAHA does not own the rights to this resource. The user must contact the repository or archive that holds the physical document to determine the restrictions that may apply under the Copyright and Intellectual Property Law or by agreements agreed with donors.
Editor	Fundación Luis Muñoz Marín
Resource Format	JPEG
Resource Type	Image

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