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Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient Antonia Pantoja
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Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient Antonia Pantoja
ANTONIA PANTOJA
THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary _______________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release September 18, 1996 NATIONAL HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH, 1996 - - - - - - - BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA A PROCLAMATION
America draws strength from the extraordinary diversity of its people. Our national character is enhanced by citizens who maintain and honor cultural customs brought from other lands. Hispanics, who have long been part of this tradition, were the earliest European settlers of this great Nation, with the Spanish founding cities in Florida in the 1500's, and Mexicans establishing homesteads in the Southwest in the 1600's. Puerto Ricans became U.S. citizens in 1917, and other Latinos over the years, including Cubans and Central Americans, came to the United States in search of democracy, freedom, and a better way of life. Hispanics, who are of all races, distinguish themselves as a community by fostering connections rooted in the Spanish language. Their diverse and vibrant culture includes elements originating in Spain, North America, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. Hispanics share deep family values, recognize their obligations to the less fortunate of our society, protect their children, cherish freedom, and fulfill their patriotic duty to defend their country. Earlier this month, I awarded our Nation's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, to Dr. Antonia Pantoja. Dr. Pantoja has inspired generations of Latino youth to "dare to dream." Believing that hard work can overcome any obstacle, she went from factory worker to college professor and has dedicated her life to bringing educational and economic opportunities to the Puerto Rican community. Sadly, we recently lost one of our great countrymen, Dr. Hector P. Garcia of Corpus Christi, Texas. A member of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, he is best remembered for his service to the Latino community, founding the American GI Forum to defend the civil rights of Hispanic veterans and organizing one of the first civil rights marches in the 1940's. Many other Hispanic sons and daughters have served our country with distinction, making important contributions in the arts and sciences, the business world, academia, government, agriculture, and the Armed Forces. Helping to preserve the democracy and freedom all Americans enjoy, Hispanics have served in the United States Armed Forces in proportions much larger than their percentage of the population. Since World War I, our Nation has awarded the Medal of Honor, our highest military honor, to more Latinos than any other ethnic group. Today, let us honor Hispanics for their example of community and patriotism, and for the richness of their contribution to this great land. NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim September 15 through October 15, 1996, as National Hispanic Heritage Month. I call upon all government officials, educators, and people of the United States to honor this observance with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities, and encourage all Americans to rededicate themselves to the pursuit of equality. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this eighteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-six, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and twenty-first.
WILLIAM J. CLINTON
Latino USA remembers the life of Antonia Pantoja, founder of Aspira and a pioneer in
Latino education and civil rights who recently passed away.
Full program in Real Audio, 29 minutes.
Dra. Antonia Pantoja was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1922 and studied at the University of Puerto Rico where she obtained a Normal School Diploma in 1942. Upon graduating from the University of Puerto Rico, she worked as a schoolteacher for two years in Puerto Rico where she cultivated a profound interest in education and addressing the needs of disadvantaged children. She arrived in New York City in November 1944 where she got a job as a welder in a factory making lamps for children. During these years which involved long hours of hard work,
Dra. Pantoja was awakened to the harsh experience of racism and discrimination against Puerto Ricans and how this community lacked the knowledge and political power to overcome these and other challenges in the United States. She became an activist in the factory, providing information to other workers about their rights and how to organize a union. These were the most formative years of her life. But within a few years, the women who welded pieces of filament for submarine radios would rise to weld together a fragmented community, a community much in need of leadership and vision.
After great personal initiative that included doing extensive research on academic scholarships, Dra. Pantoja received a scholarship from Hunter College, City University of New York, where she completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1952. She went on to acquire a Master of Social Work in 1954 and was bestowed a Ph.D. from the Union Graduate School, Union on Experimenting Colleges and Universities in Yellow Springs, Ohio in 1973.
Her most profound contribution to the Puerto Rican community in the United States began in 1958 when she joined a group of young professionals in creating the Puerto Rican Forum, Inc. which paved the way for the establishment of ASPIRA in 1961. ASPIRA was Dra. Pantoja’s dream, but it was not the only organization she help build for the Puerto Rican community. In fact, as early as 1953, Dra. Pantoja, then a graduate student at Columbia University, joined a group of students and created the Hispanic Youth Adult Association which later became the Puerto Rican Association for Community Affairs (PRACA). In 1970 she wrote a proposal and secured funds to establish the Universidad Boricua and the Puerto Rican Research and Resource Center in Washington, DC and in 1973 became its Chancellor. For health reasons, Dra. Pantoja moved to California in 1978 to become an Associate Professor at the School of Social Work, San Diego State University. There, in collaboration with another successful educator, she founded the Graduate School for Community Development in San Diego, an institution that served communities and neighborhoods throughout the nation. She became the President of this organization, devoted to imparting people with knowledge and skills necessary for problem-solving and restoring their communities. She was involved in a variety of community and professional organizations, all working toward the goal of building stronger Puerto Rican and minority communities, including the Ford Foundation, the National Urban Coalition, the Museo del Barrio, the National Association of Social Workers, the Council on Social Work Education and several other groups and organizations.
Her most notable contribution-the creation of ASPIRA- in 1961 was the result of considerable hard work and collaboration with educators and social work professionals who shared her concern” with the high dropout rate of Puerto Rican youth in New York City during the ‘50s and ‘60s. The organization flourished into a major national organization dedicated to empowering communities and especially Puerto Rican youth to have a say in and control of their future.
Dr. Pantoja’s work has not gone unnoticed. Virginia Sánchez-Korrol, Professor of Puerto Rican and Latino Studies at Brooklyn College and Co-Editor of the forthcoming Latinas in the United States: An Historical Encyclopedia, has called her "one of the foremost figures in community activism from the 1950’s to the present." In 1996, Dr. Pantoja received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor bestowed upon civilians by the United States government. She became one of only four Puerto Rican recipients of the award, which has also been presented to Governors Luis Muñoz Marín and Luis Ferré, as well as Sr. Isolina Ferré.
"One cannot live a lukewarm life," Dr. Pantoja has said. "You have to live life with passion." After nearly sixty years as an educator and activist, she continues to display that passion and vigor. In 1999, she interrupted work on her memoirs to return to New York City and lend her assistance to a new initiative. Alarmed by reports of threats to the city’s bilingual education system - a system which she was instrumental in initiating - she is working to raise awareness about the value of nurturing students to be proficient in multiple languages.
She appeared earlier this month as part of a panel discussion on "Latinas Making History" at a hotel in midtown Manhattan. A small woman with a powerful voice and no-nonsense attitude, she wears a poker face that breaks periodically into a beaming smile.
"I am for the fact that our children must learn English for their livelihood, and because they should know that other language of the place where they live," she explained. However, she described the "total immersion" of Spanish-speaking students in an English-only environment, as "a stupid, stupid thing,"
"If we already bilingual," she asked, "why should our children lose their language and only speak one language, English?"
Unapologetic for her forceful opinion, she added, "Sometimes people think that you should’t express yourself directly and say what you’re thinking, but you have to. You have to be open and direct and say what you mean. Call things by their name."
Antonia Pantoja Biography
In 1997, Dra. Antonia Pantoja, founder of ASPIRA and legendary for her role in the education and leadership development of Puerto Rican Youth in the United States and Puerto Rico, she received the highest honor the nation bestows on a civilian, the Presidential Medal of Freedom . Dr. Pantoja joined five other Americans of exceptional merit in receiving this award: the late Joseph Cardinal Bernardin, James Brady, Morris Udall, David Hamburg, and Rosa Parks. The medal was awarded by President Clinton at a ceremony at The White House. First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and other distinguished members of the Administration were in attendance. Dr. Pantoja was also given a Recognition from the United States Congress.
A special reception in Dr. Pantoja’s honor was sponsored by the ASPIRA Association and the Puerto Rican Presidential appointees at the White House. Among friends and honored guests in attendance were many Aspirantes and ASPIRA National Board Members. Attendees included The Honorable Donna Shalala, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services; Nelson D’az, General Counsel, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Antonia Novello; Josephine Nieves, National Executive Director of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW); Suzanna Valdez from the White House; Raul Yzaguirre, President of the National Council of La Raza; and Norma Cantœ, Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights. A video about Dra. Pantoja’s life was presentedas part of the celebration.
Organizations Dra. Antonia Pantoja founded
Puerto Rican Association for Community Affairs (PRACA) - 1953
Social service institution that dedicated most of its resources to work with children in adoption, foster care and bilingual nursery. It also offers services for leadership development and works on women's issues.
National Puerto Rican Forum - 1958
Community development programs, including securing funds and loans to start small business in the community.
ASPIRA - 1961
Community organization devoted to the education and leadership development of youth in the city of New York.
Universidad Boricua - 1970
Bilingual University
Puerto Rican Research Center - 1970
Organization devoted to the collection of data and to create policy based on research.
Escuela Graduada para el Desarrollo de la Comunidad en San Diego, California in 1975
PRODUCIR - 1985
Community organization in Puerto Rico that helped a rural community create its own cottage industries that generated employment and other services.
Latino Educational Media Center - 2001
Dr. Antonia Pantoja and Dr. Wilhelmina Perry, Ms. Jiménez founded the Latino Educational Media Center to create media on the diverse and rich Latino experience in the United States. The Center has embarked on an ambitious Historical Recuperation Project that focuses on the impact of Puerto Ricans on the City of New York.
Aspirante Alumni Fellowship, Inc. 2002
Promote and enhance the work of ASPIRA by providing a means for Aspira Alumni (Aspirantes) to "give back" to Aspira by developing a platform from which they can network, collaborate and serve as mentors to the upcoming generation of Aspira Students
Awards and Recognitions
1980 - Hunter College Hall of Fame
1991 - John W. Gardner Leadership Award presented by Independent Sector
1991 - Recognition by the City of NY Board of Education for outstanding educational leadership
1992 - Hispanic Heritage Award - Leadership
1993 - National Mujer Award - awarded by National Hispana Leadership Institute
1996 - Julia de Burgos Award presented by La Casa Cultural, Yale's Puerto Rican community
1997 - Presidential Medal of Freedom
1997 - Doctor of Letters, Honorary Degree, University of Connecticut
1998 - University of Massachusetts, Doctor Honoris Causa,
1999 - Lenore and George W. Romney Citizen Volunteer Award presented by the Points of Light Foundation
2000 - University of Puerto Rico, Doctor Honoris Causa
2001 - Hunter College Professional Achievement Award
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Medal History
