Ana Roque de Duprey, Puerto Rico’s Astonishing Educator and Suffragist Hero

<script async data-uid&equals;"defcacd1dd" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;fierce-maker-9650&period;kit&period;com&sol;defcacd1dd&sol;index&period;js" data-jetpack-boost&equals;"ignore" data-no-defer&equals;"1" data-no-optimize&equals;"1" nowprocket><&sol;script><div> &NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 3&period;0&period;3 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad5667 " id&equals;"quads-ad5667" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;text-align&colon;center&semi;padding&colon;0px 0 0px 0&semi;" data-lazydelay&equals;"0">&NewLine;<script async src&equals;"&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js"><&sol;script> &NewLine;<&excl;-- HH3 --> &NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle" &NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block" &NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-9266290638607128" &NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"2439182190" &NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"auto"><&sol;ins> &NewLine;<script> &NewLine;&lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi; &NewLine;<&sol;script>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine; <div id&equals;"fb-root"><&sol;div><p><img class&equals;"alignnone size-full wp-image-5778" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;historyhustle&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2020&sol;05&sol;Ana-Roque-de-Duprey-leader&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Ana Roque de Duprey leader" width&equals;"1000" height&equals;"846"><&sol;p><p>The road to women&rsquo&semi;s voting rights in Puerto Rico was a bumpy one&period;&nbsp&semi; But one fearless woman in particular led the fight&period;&nbsp&semi; Nothing seemed to daunt Ana Roque de Duprey&comma; even the loss of her mother Ana Cristina when she was just four-years-old&period;<&sol;p><blockquote>&NewLine;<h2>She became a teacher&rsquo&semi;s assistant at age 11 and opened her very own school in her house when she turned 13&period;<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<&sol;blockquote><h2>Ana Roque de Duprey&rsquo&semi;s incredible childhood<&sol;h2><p><img class&equals;"alignnone size-full wp-image-5782" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;historyhustle&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2020&sol;05&sol;Ana-Duprey&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" width&equals;"500" height&equals;"626"><br>&NewLine;Fortunately&comma; the young girl was instilled with a love of books&period;&nbsp&semi; And that turned out to be the catalyst she needed to become a <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;historyhustle&period;com&sol;kubaba-bartender-became-worlds-first-woman-ruler&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener noreferrer">leader<&sol;a> of women&rsquo&semi;s rights in her native land&comma; <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;smithsonianmag&period;com&sol;travel&sol;puerto-rico-history-and-heritage-13990189&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener noreferrer">Puerto Rico<&sol;a>&period; Ana&rsquo&semi;s father&comma; grandmother&comma; and aunt were all educators&period; And buoyed along by their support she excelled in school&period;&nbsp&semi; She was enrolled in school at the age of seven in 1860&period; By then she was proficient in math&comma; grammar&comma; and geography&period;&nbsp&semi; She did so well&comma; in fact&comma; she graduated just two years later&period;<&sol;p><p>The next step was a few years of home-schooling and she became a teacher&rsquo&semi;s assistant at age 11&period; Armed with such knowledge and plenty of self-determination she opened her very own school in her house when she turned 13&period;&nbsp&semi; Next&comma; she began a successful writing career&comma; authoring a book on geography for her young students&period;&nbsp&semi; Puerto Rico&rsquo&semi;s Department of Education even adopted this book&period;&nbsp&semi;Ana applied for a teacher&rsquo&semi;s license and easily pass the examinations&period;<&sol;p><h2>Ana Roque de Duprey grows up<&sol;h2><p>Then she met Luis Duprey&comma; a wealthy and politically motivated landowner&comma; and married him at age 19 in 1872&period; Sadly&comma; their life was marred by tragedy&period;&nbsp&semi; Only three of the couple&rsquo&semi;s five children &mdash&semi; Luis Enrique&comma; Boringuen&comma; and America &mdash&semi; survived<&sol;p><p>The family moved to San Juan&comma; Puerto Rico&rsquo&semi;s capital city in 1878&period; Ana became the first woman to be permitted to enter the Puerto Rican Athenaeum&period; She also was the first woman to become a member of the country&rsquo&semi;s Public Library&period; Tragically&comma; Luis died in 1880&comma; and she was left with small children to care for&period;<&sol;p><p>Despite this sad setback&comma; Ana accepted a teaching position in Arecibo&period; She also studied philosophy and science at the Provincial Institute and earned her bachelor&rsquo&semi;s degree&period;<&sol;p><h3><strong>Teacher and entrepreneur<&sol;strong><&sol;h3><p><img class&equals;"aligncenter size-full wp-image-5780" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;historyhustle&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2020&sol;05&sol;Ana-Duprey-leader&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" width&equals;"1000" height&equals;"1000"><&sol;p><p>Ana became notable for a great many things in her long career&period; She founded <em>La Mujer&comma;<&sol;em> the country&rsquo&semi;s first &ldquo&semi;women&rsquo&semi;s only&rdquo&semi; magazine&period;&nbsp&semi; She also became the director of the Normal School of San Juan&period; Ana wrote many articles for the country&rsquo&semi;s newspapers <em>El Buscapie<&sol;em>&comma; <em>El Imparcial<&sol;em>&comma; and <em>El Mundo&period;<&sol;em>&nbsp&semi; Ana founded many more publications&comma; both for women and the general public&period; These include the&nbsp&semi; <em>La Evolucion<&sol;em> &lpar;1902&rpar;&comma; <em>La Mujer del Sigio XX<&sol;em> &lpar;1907&rpar;&comma; <em>Album Puertorrigue<&sol;em><em>&ntilde&semi;o&comma;<&sol;em> and <em>Heraldo de la Mujer<&sol;em> &lpar;1920&rpar;&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 3&period;0&period;3 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad5670 " id&equals;"quads-ad5670" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;text-align&colon;center&semi;padding&colon;0px 0 0px 0&semi;" data-lazydelay&equals;"0">&NewLine;<script async src&equals;"&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js"><&sol;script> &NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle" &NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block&semi; text-align&colon;center&semi;" &NewLine; data-ad-layout&equals;"in-article" &NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"fluid" &NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-9266290638607128" &NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"8337030220"><&sol;ins> &NewLine;<script> &NewLine; &lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi; &NewLine;<&sol;script>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<p>She also founded a high school for girls and the college of Mayaguez&comma; which ultimately became the Mayaguez campus of the <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;upr&period;edu&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener noreferrer">University of Puerto Rico<&sol;a>&period; Working in conjunction with the Department of Education&comma; she kept teaching students in her own home&period; Dedicated to helping potential young teachers prepare for their examinations&period;<&sol;p><p>She then helped found the Puerto Rican Feminist League in 1917&period; This is the only feminist organization dedicated to the rights of Puerto Rican women at the time&period;&nbsp&semi; And by 1921 women&rsquo&semi;s voting rights became the organization&rsquo&semi;s primary focus&period; But over time&comma; political views within the organization changed and Ana and her followers founded the Association of Women Suffragists in 1924&period;<&sol;p><p>This was the beginning of a long fight as the women advocated for suffrage without restrictions&period;&nbsp&semi; Finally&comma; women were given the right to vote in 1934&period;<&sol;p><p>This hugely influential woman passed away in 1933&comma; in Rio Piedras and a memorial was set up to honor her life&period; She has since been posthumously named an honoree of the National Women&rsquo&semi;s History Alliance in 2020&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 3&period;0&period;3 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad5673 " id&equals;"quads-ad5673" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;margin&colon;0px 3px 3px 3px&semi;padding&colon;0px 0px 0px 0px&semi;" data-lazydelay&equals;"0">&NewLine;&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;p><h5>Sources&colon;<&sol;h5><h5><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;en&period;wikipedia&period;org&sol;wiki&sol;Ana&lowbar;Roque&lowbar;de&lowbar;Duprey" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener noreferrer">https&colon;&sol;&sol;en&period;wikipedia&period;org&sol;wiki&sol;Ana&lowbar;Roque&lowbar;de&lowbar;Duprey<&sol;a><br>&NewLine;<a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;sites&period;google&period;com&sol;site&sol;dejaronsuhuella&sol;biografias&sol;ana-roque-de-duprey" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener noreferrer">https&colon;&sol;&sol;sites&period;google&period;com&sol;site&sol;dejaronsuhuella&sol;biografias&sol;ana-roque-de-duprey<&sol;a><br>&NewLine;<a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;books&period;google&period;com&sol;books&sol;about&sol;Technical&lowbar;Innovation&lowbar;in&lowbar;American&lowbar;History&period;html&quest;id&equals;aWGHDwAAQBAJ" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener noreferrer">https&colon;&sol;&sol;books&period;google&period;com&sol;books&sol;about&sol;Technical&lowbar;Innovation&lowbar;in&lowbar;American&lowbar;History&period;html&quest;id&equals;aWGHDwAAQBAJ<&sol;a><br>&NewLine;<a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;obamawhitehouse&period;archives&period;gov&sol;women-in-stem" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener noreferrer">https&colon;&sol;&sol;obamawhitehouse&period;archives&period;gov&sol;women-in-stem<&sol;a><br>&NewLine;<a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;hercampus&period;com&sol;school&sol;inter-sg&sol;puerto-rican-heroines" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener noreferrer">https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;hercampus&period;com&sol;school&sol;inter-sg&sol;puerto-rican-heroines<&sol;a><br>&NewLine;<a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;facebook&period;com&sol;122618678228&sol;posts&sol;meet-ana-roque-de-dupreyana-was-born-in-aguadilla-puerto-rico-she-lived-among-bo&sol;10157477774863229&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener noreferrer">https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;facebook&period;com&sol;122618678228&sol;posts&sol;meet-ana-roque-de-dupreyana-was-born-in-aguadilla-puerto-rico-she-lived-among-bo&sol;10157477774863229&sol;<&sol;a><br>&NewLine;<a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;m&period;facebook&period;com&sol;NationalWomensHistoryAlliance&sol;posts&sol;10158129107497640" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener noreferrer">https&colon;&sol;&sol;m&period;facebook&period;com&sol;NationalWomensHistoryAlliance&sol;posts&sol;10158129107497640<&sol;a><&sol;h5><div> &NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 3&period;0&period;3 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad5669 " id&equals;"quads-ad5669" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;text-align&colon;center&semi;padding&colon;0px 0 0px 0&semi;" data-lazydelay&equals;"0">&NewLine;&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine; <&sol;div><&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

Megan Hamilton: