Victoria Hernández (March 23, 1897 – April 11, 1998) was an Afro-Puerto Rican music entrepreneur. Though a talented musician, she devoted her career to the business aspects of the music industry. In 1927, she opened the first Latin music store in New York City, one of only sixteen businesses owned by Puerto Rican migrant women. She served as an agent to locate music talent for record labels and bandleaders and at one point owned her own record label. After following her brother to Mexico City, Hernández returned to the Bronx and founded Casa de Música, later renamed to Casa Hernández. The music store she founded in 1941, now known as Casa Amadeo, antigua Casa Hernandez has the longest record of continuous operation of any music store in New York City.
Early life
Victoria Hernández was born on March 23, 1897, in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico to María Hernández Marín and José Miguel Rosa Espinoza. Her parents were Afro-Puerto Rican tobacco workers and her father was a talented guitarist. The oldest daughter in the family, all of her siblings Rafael (1891/92-1965), Jesús "Pocholo" (1899–1982) and Rosa Elvira (1905–?) would become accomplished musicians. They were encouraged by their maternal grandmother, who lived with the family, to study music and Victoria became a skilled cellist, violinist and pianist.
Career
In 1919, Hernández moved with her mother, grandmother and siblings to New York City and began work as a factory seamstress, who gave piano lessons to generate additional income. Within eight years, in 1927, she and her brothers bought a store, located at 1735 Madison Avenue in East Harlem. The store, Almacenes Hernández (Hernández Music Store), the first "Puerto Rican–owned music store in New York City", carried records and guitars, as well as music rolls for player pianos. In the back rooms, Hernández gave music lessons to students like Tito Puente and Loco Esteves and her brother Rafael composed music. In the era, it was unacceptable for respectable Latina women to perform as popular musicians, so though ostensibly owned by the siblings, Victoria ran the business to support the family and give her brothers an income so that they could devote their time to composing and performing. According to the historian Virginia Sánchez Korrol, at the time Hernández was one of only sixteen Puerto Rican women operating businesses in the United States.
In 1927, Hernández added her own recording label, Hispano to her enterprises. Her label produced several records for Las Estrellas Boricuas and Los Diablos de la Plena, two groups known in the Puerto Rican music community, as well as songs composed by Rafael, including his now well-known song, Pura Flama. She successfully sold many records until her bank failed as a result of the Great Depression, forcing her to close the label in 1929. As her business grew, Hernández needed more space and relocated to 1724 Madison Avenue in 1930. In 1932, Rafael formed a group, which he named Cuarteto Victoria (Victoria Quartet) in her honor. Hernández served as his booking agent and organized his tours and recording sessions. To contest the stereotype that musicians were irresponsible bohemians, Hernández insisted that the quartet forego the traditional costumes featuring ruffled-sleeve shirts and instead wear suits and ties. As she gained a reputation, Hernández began working with record labels like Columbia Records, Decca and Victor to book instrumentalists for recording sessions and with bandleaders like Xavier Cugat, who were searching for musicians. Hernández also often assisted the musicians themselves by advancing them money in exchange for a cut of their later earnings. Her benevolence earned her the honorific La Madrina (the godmother) from some, but also less flattering titles by those who felt her charges were usurious.