The Unionist
Luisa Capetillo Was Early Puerto Rican Labor Leader
She Lived Life on Her Own Terms
T his month we celebrate the Discovery of
Puerto Rico on November 17. It is important
to celebrate not only our culture, music and
food, but also to remember those who came before
us, without whom we might not be where we
are. Among those historical figures is a Puerto
Rican woman who could very well have lived in
modern times. Her name is Luisa Capetillo.
Capetillo was a free thinker, a feminist, an anar-
chist and a labor leader in the early 1900’s.
Although she is best known today for being the
first woman to wear pants in public in Puerto Rico,
her struggles as a leader in the emerging labor
movement and in a male dominated society made
her a woman who was far ahead of her time.
In the early part of the 19th Century, slavery and
feudalism slowed the growth of a working class in
Puerto Rico. Few paid laborers existed, and they
were isolated and spread out across the country,
making it difficult to realize and express their
common interests.
The fall of the monarchy of Isabel II of Spain
spurred economic and civil changes, which
allowed for the growth of a working class in Puerto
Rico. Among these changes was the abolition of
slavery and feudal servitude. In addition, the
growth of large centers for the production of sugar
cane and tobacco for exportation made conditions
fertile for workers to express their common inter-
ests and issues. Between 1868 and 1873, civil
decrees allowed limited suffrage and free associa-
tion. It is within the context of these changes that
the first worker organizations were formed.
At first, workers formed social clubs, called casi-
nos, which also evolved into having educational
functions as well. Workers who attended the casi-
nos danced and socialized, but also enjoyed liter-
ary readings and theatrical presentations. Later,
these organizations formed “help your own”
funds to aid workers who became sick or incapaci-
tated. However, these organizations didn’t deal
with the problem of unemployment, so worker
cooperatives were formed to retrain workers in
certain skilled trades.
Spanish Government Restrictions
Although the Spanish government did not con-
sider these groups a threat, in 1879 they prohibited
the formation of organizations for the purposes of
“raising or cheapening the price of work” or to reg-
ulate its conditions. Workers were also held back
politically because voting in local elections was
limited to those who paid property or business
taxes. This changed in 1898 on the eve of the U.S.
invasion of Puerto Rico when a law was passed to
allow men from the age of 25 to vote.
The U.S. invasion of Puerto Rico and the subse-
quent changes that came with it may have acceler-
ated the formation of labor unions. It was during
this time that Luisa Capetillo made her debut in
the union movement.
Capetillo was born in Arecibo, Puerto Rico on
October 28, 1879. Her mother, Luisa Margarita
Perone, a French immigrant, arrived in Puerto Rico
in search of employment as a tutor for the children
of a prominent family in Arecibo. Instead, she was
hired to do domestic work. Her father, Luis
Capetillo Echevarria, arrived in Puerto Rico from
8
She insisted . . . that true
Christianity was to be
found in the eradication of
oppression and exploitation.
Spain. Although he’d planned to make his fortune in
Puerto Rico, he ended up working in various trades.
Capetillo’s parents shared the same philosophical
and political ideology. They lived together and
raised Luisa, their only child, but never married.
Capetillo was educated at home where she received
a more liberal education than what young women
could expect at that time. Both her parents encour-
aged open and free debate on many issues which
opened her mind to different ideas and philoso-
phies. She adopted an anarchist philosophy and it
was those ideals that she lived by. She was baptized
a Catholic, but rejected religion. However, she was
not an atheist. She, unlike other anarchists, consid-
ered herself a good Christian, although she did not
agree with the rigid dogmas and rituals of the
church. She insisted instead that true Christianity
was to be found in the eradication of oppression
and exploitation. To be a Christian meant that one
believed in justice and equality.
At the age of 19, she met and fell in love with
Manuel Ledesma, a young man from a prominent
family in Arecibo. They became lovers, and in 1898
their first child, Manuela, was born. Two years later
their son Gregorio was born. Luisa and Manuel never
married, and after three years their love affair ended.
Now a single mother, Capetillo left her children
in the care of her mother and took a job in the tex-
tile industry. Subsequently, she became a reader in
the tobacco factories in Arecibo. A reader sat or
stood at a podium on the factory floor and read
aloud so that the workers who stemmed the
tobacco leaves and rolled the cigars could
hear. Often, certain passages of particular literary
works or political essays would be repeated sever-
al times so that workers could commit them to
By Shirley Aldebol
memory. It was also tradition in the tobacco facto-
ries to have open discussions and debate on par-
ticular lectures without interrupting the
work. Workers also debated and voted on which
works would be read each day.
It was there in the tobacco factory that Capetillo
had her first contact with the union — La Federacion
de Torcedores de Tabaco (The Federation of Tobacco
Rollers) which was affiliated with La Federacion
Libre de Trabajadores (The Free Federation of Labor).
The first union, La Federacion Regional de
Trabajadores (The Regional Federation of Workers),
was formed during the military occupation by the
United States in 1898. The eight-hour work day was
ordered by military decree in 1899, and the prohibi-
tion against unions imposed under Spanish rule
was abolished. However, because of ideological dif-
ferences, a group of members broke away and
formed the FLT. - Federacion Libre de Trabajadores
(the Free Federation of Workers) which, through the
efforts of Santiago Iglesias Pantin, subsequently
affiliated with the American Federation of Labor.
Capetillo’s involvement in the union began in 1905
during a farm workers’ strike led by the FLT. Because
of her previous collaborations with radical and union
newspapers in Arecibo, she was able to write propa-
ganda and organize workers in the strike. She played
a prominent role in the strike, and she quickly
became a leader in the union. She made her living
from selling the union newspaper as she traveled
throughout Puerto Rico educating and organizing
workers. Her message was simple — workers must
unite under one banner in order to defend their
rights for dignity and equality. She was such an
effective organizer that her hometown of Arecibo
became the most unionized area in the country.
Womens’ Right to Vote
Capetillo is considered by many to be the first
true suffragist in Puerto Rico. In 1908, she urged the
FLT, at their convention, to adopt a policy to fight
for women’s suffrage. She insisted that all women,
not just the rich or literate, should have the same
right to vote as men.
In 1909, the FLT embarked on an ambitious orga-
nizing campaign which they called “la Cruzada del
Ideal” (Crusade of the Ideal). Under the auspices of
the FLT, Capetillo, along with rank and file workers
and union leaders, traveled on foot, by horseback
and by train across Puerto Rico to organize and
educate workers. During this crusade, Capetillo
wrote for the union newspaper, Union Obrera, and
published her own periodical entitled La Mujer. She
also wrote and published a collection of essays enti-
tled Ensayos Libertarios.
Luisa Capetillo was the first Puerto Rican
woman to commit to writing her feminist ideas and
theories on the rights of women. In 1909, Luisa
wrote and published Mi opinion sobre las libertades,
derechos y deberes de la mujer (My opinion about the lib-
erties, rights and responsibilities of women) which is
the first feminist thesis written in Puerto Rico.
Although she considered herself a feminist, she did
not join any of the feminist organizations that
emerged during that time. She instead dedicated all
Continued on page 2.
Luisa Capetillo Was Puerto Rican Labor Leader
her efforts to the labor movement, believing that
the union was the vehicle for poor working women
to obtain justice and equality. She wore pants in
public, challenging the social mores of the
time. She advocated for free and liberal education
for all men and women. Perhaps one of her most
controversial ideas was “free love,” which many
misinterpreted as encouraging promiscuity. In her
essays she explains that women should choose
whom they will love freely, without legal interfer-
ence or matrimony. In 1911, Capetillo gave birth
to her third child, Luis Capetillo. She published
the first edition of her book entitled Mi Opinion.
In 1912, Capetillo traveled to New York City
where she established ties within the Cuban and
Puerto Rican tobacco workers. She wrote for vari-
ous radical and anarchist papers. A year later she
moved to Tampa, Florida where she worked as a
reader in one of the tobacco factories. During her
stay, she published the second edition of Mi
Opinion. The next stop in her travels was Cuba
where she joined the sugar cane workers in their
strike which was organized by la Federacion
Anarquista (the Anarchist Federation of Cuba). She
circulated a manifesto which advocated violence
and was ordered to leave the county. She was later
arrested for “causing a public disturbance” by
wearing men’s clothes in public. She challenged the
court, arguing that there was no such law that pro-
hibited her from wearing men’s clothing. The judge
the
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Local 371, District Council 37, AFSCME, AFL-CIO.
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.... Continued
agreed, and the charges were dropped. News of
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this episode was published in all the major news-
papers in Cuba and Puerto Rico.
She returned to Puerto Rico where she organized
and participated in several strikes, including the
Sugar Cane Strike of 1916. Over 40,000 workers in
32 municipalities participated in this strike which
resulted in an average salary increase of 13%. The
period of 1916-1918 was the most intense in terms
of strike activity in Puerto Rico’s history. During
this period Luisa traveled back and forth to New
York City where she had established a guest house
and café. She also traveled to the Dominican
Republic in support of striking workers in 1919.
During this time period, the Socialist Workers
Party was constituted as the political arm of the
FLT. Although it was against her ideals as an anar-
chist, Capetillo participated in a political campaign
for the Socialist Workers Party.
Luisa Capetillo was overcome by tuberculosis
and died on October 10, 1922. From all accounts,
she lived intensely — almost until the moment of
her death she fought for workers causes and the
emancipation of women. It is difficult to measure
the impact that Capetillo had on the labor move-
ment or the feminist movement. Most historical
documents don’t even mention her. One thing we
do know for sure — she lived life on her own
terms, defending her right to be free. Her story,
I hope, inspires us to do the same.
2
Metro NY
Labor
Communications
Council