This paper examines how two Caribbean islands, Puerto Rico and Jamaica, developed ideas of national identity while negotiating political emancipation within two distinct, yet allied Anglophone empires. We can see this process through the Olympic movement and referred to here as “colonial Olympism.” Both Puerto Rico and Jamaica participated as col…[Read more]

Contextualized in a Western push for post-war decolonization and modernization, the development of recreation programs in 1950s Puerto Rico helped consolidate the state’s sport institution and, in turn, legitimize a new political status. The 1950s was a pivotal decade in Puerto Rican history due to the creation of the Commonwealth in 1952 and t…[Read more]

During the 1940s, Puerto Rico enjoyed the benefits of a U.S. sponsored economic boom as a result of the Second World War. Taking advantage of this influx of capital, the Puerto Rican government’s sport and recreation commission, led by Julio Enrique Monagas, sought out an island-wide plan to build sport and recreational facilities under a social j…[Read more]