Antonia pantoja biography

Antonia Pantoja was a formidable figure in the historical development of Puerto Rican and Latinx life in New York, Puerto Rico, California, and beyond during the second half of the 20th century. A black, queer, Puerto Rican educator, social worker, and foundational figure in the Puerto Rican community in postwar New York City, Pantoja established several groundbreaking institutions in New York and in Puerto Rico. Her goal was to enhance civil rights and educational opportunities and to promote positive imagery and self-love for Puerto Ricans in New York and beyond. She is best known for establishing the organization ASPIRA in 1961, an important organization that promoted education and advancement for Puerto Rican youth in New York City by providing clubs within schools, career and college counseling, advocacy for bilingual education, and other services.

Pantoja was born on September 13, 1922 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to an impoverished family of laundry and tobacco workers. She ear

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Pantoja, Antonia 1922-2002

PERSONAL: Born 1922 (some sources say September 13, 1921), in Puerta de Tierra, San Juan, Puerto Rico; died 2002. Education: University of Puerto Rico Normal School, diploma (education), 1942; Hunter College, City University of New York, B.A., 1952; Columbia University School of Social Work, M.S.W., 1954; Union Graduate School, Union of Experimenting Colleges and Universities, Ph.D., 1973.

CAREER: Educator, political and social reformer, and writer. Worked variously as an elementary school teacher in Puerto Rico, 1942-44, a welder in a radio factory, a worker in a lamp factory, and a counselor at a community center; Columbia University School of Social Work, assistant professor, 1967; University of Puerto Rico School of Social Work, 1968; San Diego State University, faculty member and director of social work program, 1972; Universidad Boricua and Puerto Rican Research Center, Washington, DC, founder, 1970, chancellor, 1973; San Diego State Univer

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Antonia Pantoja

Puerto Rican educator

Antonia Pantoja (September 13, 1922 – May 24, 2002), was a Puerto Rican educator, social worker, feminist, civil rights leader and the founder of ASPIRA, the Puerto Rican Forum, Boricua College and Producir. In 1996, she was the first Puerto Rican woman to receive the American Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Early years

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Pantoja was born in Puerta dem Tierra, in San Juan, Puerto Rico where she received her primary and secondary education. She was later able to study at the University of Puerto Rico with the financial help given to her bygd her wealthy neighbors. There she obtained a teacher's certificate in 1942. In 1944 she moved to New York City, where she funnen a job as a welder in a wartime factory. She subsequently won a scholarship to Hunter College in Manhattan, where she graduated with a bachelor's grad in sociology in 1952. She then studied at Columbia University School of Social Work, where she earned her master'