Museo de la Masacre de Ponce

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The Museo de la Masacre de Ponce (Ponce Massacre Museum) is a small, two-story historic house that now serves as a human rights museum in Ponce, Puerto Rico. It sits at the corner of Marina and Aurora streets (32 Marina St.). The building, dating from the early 1900s and redesigned by Blas Silva, is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places as Casa de la Masacre. It was restored in 2006 and reopened in 2013 after a renovation; the building was damaged by the 2020 earthquake.

The museum commemorates the Ponce Massacre, which happened on Palm Sunday, March 21, 1937. A peaceful march by Puerto Rican Nationalists was shot at by police, resulting in several deaths and many injuries. The incident drew attention to the island’s political struggles and is regarded as a massacre by the U.S.-appointed Puerto Rican government. The museum presents the Nationalist era, including the life of Pedro Albizu Campos, and documents the US government’s actions against Puerto Rican nationalists, including blacklisting.

Historical context: After the 1898 U.S. takeover, Puerto Rico’s future—independence, statehood, or commonwealth—was hotly debated. The Nationalist Party supported independence and faced government repression in the years leading up to 1937. The Ponce Massacre occurred at the Nationalist Party’s meeting place, which the building had long served as.

In 1988, the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture bought the property and converted it into the museum.