Libro titulado “Puerto Rico: A Profile in Pictures” por Merle Colby (1902-1969) publicado en Nueva York por Duell, Sloan and Pearce en 1940. Según la introducción del libro por el almirante William D. Leahy (1875-1959), gobernador de Puerto Rico de septiembre 1939 a noviembre 1940:
The history of the United States began, in a sense, in Puerto Rico. Here Columbus landed—the only soil under our flag on which he set foot; from here Ponce de Leon departed on the expedition in the course of which he discovered Florida. Many historic monuments remain as “sermons in stones” for contemporary Americans. In recent years, energetic measures of reconstruction and defense have been taken in this Caribbean outpost. Of no less interest to the visitor than historic relics are the housing developments, rural resettlement projects, irrigation and hydro-electric power works, soil conservation measures, and the work of a number of Insular and Federal agencies engaged in rehabilitation. I am happy to extend a cordial invitation to residents of continental United States to visit their fellow Americans in the tropical island of Puerto Rico. Here they will have the unique experience of traveling under the security of the United States flag in a land that is foreign in culture and expression, American in its laws and destiny.
En el libro podrá disfrutar de sobre 80 fotos de distintos lugares de Puerto Rico, tomadas en o antes de 1940. Estas fotos son un buen recurso histórico que nos muestra cómo era Puerto Rico al comienzo de la década de 1940, a la víspera de la entrada de los Estados Unidos en la Segunda Guerra Mundial.
A continuación compartimos copia digital de este libro con nuestros lectores:
Fuente: Colección Puertorriqueña UPR RP
