La Correspondencia de Puerto Rico Archive

La Correspondencia de Puerto Rico, a reflection of La Correspondencia de España, was founded by Ramón B. López in San Juan on December 18, 1890. Priced at one cent, it appealed to the general public and quickly became the largest circulating daily newspaper in Puerto Rico with a print run of 5,000 copies a day. Due to its popularity, it was conferred the sarcastic nickname of “El periódico de las cocineras”(the housewife's newspaper). La Correspondencia de Puerto Rico is considered the first daily news report on the island accessible to a wider public.

In his dissertation Análisis histórico de la noción del “periodismo profesional” en Puerto Rico-del siglo XIX al XX-(2007)(“Historic Analysis of the Notion of Professional Journalism in Puerto Rico in the 19th and 20th Centuries”), journalism professor Luis Fernando Coss highlighted the modernist elements embodied in La Correspondencia. A clear rupture with the traditional partisan press, an interest in covering general issues of relevance beyond the local claims of the press in the major cities of San Juan, Ponce, and Mayaguez, and a flaunting of objectivity all marked the beginning of a new era for newspapers in Puerto Rico.

La Correspondencia caught the attention of its readers with reports on tariffs in 1895, its sober discussion of the monopolies and the urban protests against them, and its focus on the war for Cuban independence. The newspaper's coverage of the momentous years 1897 through 1899 associated with the Spanish-American War are particularly important for researchers. Among the topics featured during this period was the installation of the Autonomic Cabinet, the elections of island representatives in March 1898, the difficulties of the regional government in financing public works, the United States invasion and occupation, and the transition to military government in 1899. La Correspondencia also reported on the measures of American governors Guy V. Henry and George Davies in the turbulent year of 1899 to implement the 8-hour workday, suspend foreclosures of farm owners' mortgages, and promote the exchange of the provincial currency for the U.S. dollar. La Correspondencia's coverage of the August 8^th hurricane in San Ciriaco provided multiple nuances and details absent in other periodicals of the time.

In the beginning, La Correspondencia wanted to proscribe the publication of narrative literature. However, physician and writer Manuel Zeno Gandía, who bought the newspaper in April 1902, made sure to include poems and other works by various writers, who later gained recognition. In fact, the paper served as a vehicle for the dissemination of literary modernism on the island. During the first decade of the 20^th century, La Correspondencia took a political turn by affiliating with the Union Party of Puerto Rico behind the slogan of gobierno propio or self-government. A proponent of self-determination, the newspaper echoed popular concerns about the Foraker Act (1900), which established civilian government in Puerto Rico, as well working to promote the economic and intellectual progress of the island in general. The last issue of La Correspondencia de Puerto Rico appeared in 1943.