Antonia Pantojas
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Dr. Antonia Pantojas (September 13, 1922-May 24, 2002), born in San Juan, Puerto Rico - educator, a civil rights leader and founder of "Aspira".
Pantojas began her primary studies in San Juan; she was later able to study at the University of Puerto Rico thanks to the financial help given to her by her wealthy neighbors; here she obtained a teacher's certificate in 1942. In 1944 she migrated to New York City where she found a job as a welder in a wartime factory. She subsequently won a scholarship to Hunters College in the Bronx, where she graduated with a Bachelor's degree in sociology in 1952. She then studied at Columbia University's New York School of Social Work and here in 1954 she earned her Master's degree.
In 1957, Pantojas founded the "Puerto Rican Forum", which served as an incubator for organizations and programs promoting economic self-sufficiency. She dedicated all of her energies to the organization, which is now known as the "National Puerto Rican Forum".
In 1961, Pantojas she also founded "Aspira", a non-profit organization encouraging educational attainment, self-esteem, cultural awareness and leadership development. Aspira now has offices in six states and Puerto Rico; it has provided approximately 50,000 Latino students with career and college counseling, financial aid and other asistence.
Among the programs' graduates are:
- Fernando Ferrer, former Bronx president;
- Anthony Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union;
- Ninfa Segarra, President of the Board of Education of New York;
- Aida Alvarez, former director of the Small Business Administration under President Bill Clinton;
- Nelson A. Diaz, first Puerto Rican Solicitor General in Philadelphia; and
- Jimmy Smits, the Puerto Rican actor.
In 1964, she shifted her emphasis from self-help programs to the reformation of the educational system and in 1967 she served on a committee, convened by the then Mayor of New York City, John Lindsay, that recommended the decentralization of the school system.
In 1972, Aspira, under the direction of Dr. Pantojas, filed a civil rights lawsuit in the Federal court demanding that New York City provide classroom instructions in Spanish for struggling Latino students. Aspira won the lawsuit in what was considered a landmark decision in 1974.
In 1970, she established the "Universidad Boricua", which is now known as the "Boricua University of Brooklyn and the Puerto Rican Research and Resources Center in Washington, D.C.. In 1973, she earned her Ph.D. from Union Grauate School in Ohio. She joined the faculty of the San Diego State University's School of Social Work in 1978 and she also founded the "Graduate School for Community Development.
After 1984, Pantojas moved to Puerto Rico where she established "Producir", an organization which provides economic assistance to small businesses and "Provivienda", which works to develop housing for the needy.
Pantojas has since gone on to publish her autobiography "Memoir of a Visionary, Antonia Pantojas". In 1996, President Bill Clinton presented her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and was the first Puerto Rican woman to receive such an honor.
Dr. Antonia Pantojas died in Manhattan, New York on May 24, 2002.
Among Pantojas's numerous awards and recognitions are the following:
- Inducted into the Hunter College Hall of Fame;
- The Hispanic Heritage Award;
- The Julia de Burgos Award of la Casa Cultural of Yale;
- A Doctor of Letters Honorary degree from the University of Connecticut;
- A Doctor Honoris Causa from the University of Massachusetts;
- A Doctor Honoris Causa from the University of Puerto Rico and
- The Hunter College Professional Achievement Award.