1909 Survey of Puerto Rican Elites

The 1909 Survey of Puerto Rican Elites is a public archive or repository collecting and analyzing the responses of the residents of Puerto Rico who completed the survey or questionnaire in 1909. This archive contains the largest collection of responses to the survey and summaries of the responses. The 1909 Survey of Puerto Rican Elites is part of the University of Connecticut’s Puerto Rican Studies Initiative for Civic Engagement and Public Policy. This project was made possible with grant from the Connecticut State General Assembly funded by American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds.

See Survey Results

Over 600

Survey Participants

1000+

Individual records collected

??

Number of Contributors

About

During the months of August and September 1909, then Governor Regis H. Post released a public opinion survey to gauge the opinions of local elites about possible reforms of the prevailing colonial law and policy. More specifically, the survey attempted to elite opinions about proposals to reject the Foraker Act of 1900, the organic act used by the United States government to rule the Puerto Rican territory. In addition, the survey was used to take the political temperature of local elites amidst the debates over the Puerto Rican budget negotiations that became the basis for the Olmstead Act of 1909. Paper copies of the survey were sent to approximately 350 local elites residing throughout Puerto Rico.

The survey contained seven open ended questions, some further divided into multiple related questions. The first question inquired whether Congress should grant U.S. citizenship (either by collective or individual naturalization) to the citizens of Puerto Rico. The second and third questions addressed various reforms to the local judiciary. The fourth question focused on reforms to the powers of the local governor or executive. The fifth question sought to evaluate the continuation of minority representation laws in the local House of Delegates. The sixth question sought to gauge the opinions on electoral reforms. The final question requested opinions on the creation of an island-wide or executive level department of public health. The 1909 Survey of Puerto Rican Elites collects and analyzes 208 responses. Copies of these responses were collected from multiple repositories and were subsequently digitized for storage in this archive. This archive catalogues and reproduces copies of these responses, with transcriptions in multiple languages, in a searchable database. In addition, the webpage contains explanations of each question contextualized in their relevant historical debates. We also codified and analyzed all the responses to each question. We created a public repository for primary documents that provides research resources to assist readers in their interpretations of these materials. Our goal is to continue to expand this repository over time and continue to collect all materials relating to the 1909 Survey of Puerto Rican Elites.

Many people collaborated in the creation of this project. Colleagues like Volodymyr Gupan, Thomas Briggs, Stavros Papadopoulos and Chloe M. Kwak. UConn’s Digital Experience Group (DXG) designed and developed this project and has provided key support enabling the creation of this digital archive. All surveys are housed in the Connecticut Digital Archive (CTDA). I am grateful for their support and commitments. The 1909 Survey of Puerto Rican Elites is part of the archival projects created by the Puerto Rican Studies Initiative for Community Engagement and Public Policy located at the University of Connecticut. The main goal of the archives project is to create public repositories of historical documents and analysis of materials that are not readily accessible to the researchers, students, political actors and communities at large. This project was funded by the Connecticut General Assembly with an American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) grant.

See Survey Results