Erasmo Vando Rodríguez Papers

Erasmo Vando was an activist, writer, actor, producer, and journalist who made important contributions to the New York Puerto Rican community during its formation in the decades before World War II. In the twenty-seven years that he lived in New York (1919-1945) he was a tireless promoter of theatrical and musical productions as well as founder of and participant in many political and civic organizations.

Born on June 2, 1896 in Ponce Puerto Rico, Vando moved to San Juan to the home of his maternal aunt in 1902. His uncle was employed as a barber for the army and the family moved frequently between bases in San Juan and Cayey. Beginning early in life, Vando was outspoken on behalf of the Puerto Rican struggle for independence. In an autobiographical sketch, Vando described an incident in a school he attended in Cayey in 1910 where he was reprimanded for refusing to pledge allegiance to the U.S. flag. In deference to young Vando's views, the director of the school gave him permission to enter the classroom after the pledge from then on. In 1912 he was expelled from the Escuela Superior Central in Santurce for the same protest. There are no records indicating that Vando graduated from high school or that he went on to post secondary education, but it is obvious that he pursued intellectual interests his entire life.

Before migrating to the U.S., Vando tried his luck in business as owner of a grocery store and the Cafe Havana in Santurce. These ventures were not successful and in 1918, during World War 1, he joined an expedition of laborers contracted to work at Camp Jackson in Columbia, South Carolina. In keeping with Southern practice, Puerto Rican workers were separated by color. Vando organized a protest where it was decided to draft a letter to the President of the U.S. denouncing this practice and declaring that the Puerto Rican workers refused to be segregated. Vando's stay at Camp Jackson was brief; eleven days after his arrival, the war and the contract ended. Some of the laborers were contracted to work in construction projects elsewhere, but the majority returned to Puerto Rico on a U.S. carrier ship. Vando chose not to return and went to work first in Missouri, and then in Mobile, Alabama.

In 1919, Vando arrived in New York by train from New Orleans. Like many other Puerto Rican migrants he found work as an unskilled laborer in factories, on the docks, and in the hotels. Initially he moved from job to job, but eventually he found work in a candy factory where he remained for twenty-three years.

Like his friends and contemporaries, Jesús Colón, and Bernardo Vega, Vando soon became involved in the activities of the early Puerto Rican "colonia". He moved easily from cultural to political activism assuming leadership in both areas. With Colón and Vega he shared a life-long commitment to the fight for Puerto Rican independence and used his talents for this cause. In 1919, for example, he co-founded the Juventud Nacionalista Puertorriqueña and organized assemblies, meetings, and marches. Together with Lorenzo Piñeiro, Gilberto Concepción de Gracia, Gonzalo O'Neill, Arturo Jiménez and others, he founded the Asociación Pro Independencia de Puerto Rico. The list of organizations in which he played a role is long and diverse. Some of these are: the Porto Rican Brotherhood of America where he served for a period as president; Club Pomarrosas Atlético y Social (ca. 1935); Comité Pro Presos Políticos de Puerto Rico (1937); Centro Obrero Español, Club Obrero Chileno and the Cuban Club, Antonio Mella.

As an actor, playwright and director, Vando devoted much of his energy to the production of plays and musical programs. He was an early producer and promoter of Puerto Rican theater in New York establishing companies, acting in productions, and encouraging actors. Often these productions doubled as fundraisers to support the work of the political clubs and were staged at places like the Park Palace, the Audubon Ballroom, Town Hall, and Carnegie Hall. Vando drew from the works of Puerto Rican writers and had a preference for dramas with political themes. Some of these included: Bajo Una Sola Bandera by Gonzalo O'Neill; El Grito de Lares by Luis Lloréns Torres; and Tiempo Muerto by Manuel Méndez Ballester. However, Vando did not limit himself to Puerto Rican subjects and performed in shows based on works by other Hispanic groups in the city. One example is Los Campesinos, a zarzuela about Asturian traditions performed by the "Artistas Unidos" theater company of which Vando was a member. He was also prominent in La Asociación de Escritores y Periodistas Puertorriqueños (1939) and Puerto Rico Literario.

Vando was a chronicler of his times as is evident in the columns he wrote for newspapers published in New York, such as La Voz and Gráfico, where he commented on a variety of topics, both social and political. He often expressed himself through poetry and was encouraged to write by friends like the poet, José Dávila Semprit, who occasionally recited Vando's works at public events or other gatherings. Although during his lifetime a dream to publish his poetry was never realized, in fulfillment of his wishes, a collection of the poems has recently been published by the Vando family in a book titled Amores (San Juan, 1996).

In 1945 Vando returned to his hometown, Ponce, Puerto Rico. He earned his living writing for El Mundo, a major national newspaper, and the major Ponce local newspaper, El Día. True to his combative style, his daily columns for El Día were openly critical of Ponce's longterm mayor, Andrés Grillasca Salas. After 1946, with his wife Emelí, he became extremely active in the newly formed Partido Independentista Puertorriqueño (PIP). In 1948 he actually quit his job at El Día to dedicate himself completely to the party's electoral campaign against the Partido Popular Democrático. In addition to traveling throughout Ponce and other parts of the Island making speeches, Vando used his dramatic skills on behalf of the PIP by writing and transmitting brief radio dramas exposing the miserable conditions under which many Puerto Ricans lived.

After the Partido Popular's victory, Vando continued his involvement in the political arena, working with different pro-independence groups. In the 1950s, he worked as an organizer for the PIP and occupied various leadership positions in the party. In 1959, dissatisfied with the direction of the PIP, he left the party, and was among those who helped found the Movimiento Pro Independencia (MPI), which in 1971 became the Partido Socialista Puertorriqueño (PSP). His involvement in the PSP included a role as a member of the delegation to meetings of the United Nations Decolonization Committee. Eventually he became less active in the organization, but he and his wife, Emelí Vélez, remained at the center of the circle of activists involved in the independence movement and their house often served as a gathering place.

Vando's political activism did not keep him from remaining creatively involved in the cultural scene in Puerto Rico. His play, Amor en el Batey: Melodrama de Costumbres Puertorriqueñas premiered in the Teatro La Perla in Ponce on January 22, 1950. He also worked as an actor, notably in the film Tres vidas en el Recuerdo, the first full-length feature film produced completely in Puerto Rico.

Erasmo Vando died on October 31, 1988. Fortunately, during his lifetime he preserved his papers and his family continued to do so after his death. Researchers will find them to be a rich resource for the study of the Puerto Rican community in New York City from the 1920s through the 1940s along with other collections in the Centro Archives, particularly the Jesús Colón Papers. Vando resembled Colón in his wide-ranging interests and in his commitment to and advocacy for the community in New York and for Puerto Rican independence. The Papers testify to his enthusiastic promotion of theatrical and other artistic activities in New York and help fill a gap in the cultural history of New York Puerto Ricans in the decades before World War II.