Colonial Middle Class: Housing for Public Workers in 1950s Puerto Rico

During the 1940s and 1950s the Popular Democratic Party invested heavily in housing this was in part due to the housing shortages that the metropolitan area of San Juan was experiencing since the 1930s. However, this investment contributed to strength and secure patronage among the working and middle classes to this political party. This paper looks specifically into the construction of a housing subdivision in San Juan, Puerto Rico by the Federación de Empleados del Gobierno Insular de Puerto Rico. The FEGIPR was the state employees association and was selling at very low prices the land and housing to eligible employees of the Puerto Rican government. This very liberal transfer of wealth in addition to contribute to patronage was also a contributor to the development of a consumer based middle class in the island. These developments are related to the economic policies Operation Bootstrap whose main goal was to modernize and industrialize the island. These middle classes and its consumer culture where dependent on Puerto Rico’s political relation to the United States and its colonial status.