By: Steve Worthy
Special To The Carolinian
Dr. Jose Celso Barbosa (1857-1921) was a Puerto Rican scholar, doctor, publisher and known as the father of Puerto Rican Statehood. Served in the first Puerto Rican Senate formed after the United States acquired Puerto Rico in a treaty with Spain in the Spanish-American War of 1898.
Dr. Jose Celso Barbosa Alcala was born in Bayamon Puerto Rico on July 27, 1857 where he received his primary and secondary education. His early education led him to be the first person of African des
cent to be educated and graduate from the Jesuit Seminary in San Juan in 1875.
His studies at the Seminary and tutoring of students led him to New York City to further his studies and learn English. In New York, he decided to apply for medical school instead of law after a bout with tuberculosis. Barbosa was turned down by what is now Columbia University Medical School due to his race but applied and was accepted by University of Michigan in 1877.
Barbosa graduated as valedictorian in 1880 and returned to Puerto Rico. He was one of the first persons of African Descent to graduate from a medical school in the United States.
Spain, as Puerto Rico was under their rule at the time, did not initially recognize his medical degree but an American consul assisted his recognition on his behalf.
In Puerto Rico, he provided medical care for Afro Puerto Ricans and led him to create an early version of health insurance with employers paying workers’ premiums. Barbosa became involved in politics and involved in forming the Republican Party of Puerto Rico which advocated statehood for the island.
This had him declared the Father of Statehood. Barbosa was appointed to the Executive Cabinet, the only Black member, on the island from 1900-17 by four U.S. presidents and served in the Senate from 1917-21.
In 1907, Barbosa founded El Tiempo, the first bilingual newspaper in Puerto Rico. Barbosa died in 1921, thousands attended his funeral and is buried in San Juan, PR. His birthday, July 27, was declared a national holiday. Numerous schools, streets, and parks in Puerto Rico were named in his honor.
His childhood home was declared a national monument.
