Ruth Mary Reynolds (February 29, 1916 – December 2, 1989) was an American educator, political and civil rights activist who embraced the ideals of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party. She was incarcerated in La Princesa Prison for sedition during the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party Revolts of the 1950s. As one of the founders of the organization known as the "American League for Puerto Rico's Independence," she devoted many years of her life to the cause of Puerto Rico's independence from the United States after her release from prison.
Early years
Reynolds was born in 1916 in Terraville, Lawrence County, South Dakota, a mining town in the Black Hills. As a young woman, she taught high school for two years, including one year of teaching on an Indian reservation. After earning a Master's degree from Northwestern University, she relocated to New York City, where she joined the Harlem Ashram, an interracial pacifist community dedicated to the development of non-violent strategies for social change.
Harlem Ashram
The Ashram was founded by Ralph Templin and Jay Holmes Smith in 1940. It was a religious, pacifist group based on the Gandhian philosophy of non-violence. In the interest of promoting interracial good will, the members of the Ashram associated themselves with the members of a predominantly Puerto Rican neighborhood in the city. Reynolds and her associates organized games and activities for the young people who lived in East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem.
The Puerto Rican Nationalist Party
Pedro Albizu Campos, president of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party, and several other Nationalists were arrested and charged with "seditious conspiracy to overthrow the U.S. Government in Puerto Rico" after the events of the 1935 Río Piedras massacre. Even though he was not involved in the incident, Albizu Campos was found guilty and sentenced in 1937 to ten years of prison, to be served at the Federal penitentiary in Atlanta, Georgia.
In 1943, while still serving his sentence, Albizu Campos became seriously ill and had to be interned at the Columbus Hospital of New York City. During his stay in the hospital, he learned of the work that the Harlem Ashram was doing with the local Puerto Ricans. He asked Julio Pinto Gandía, a member of the Nationalist Party of Puerto Rico, to bring the group to his bedside because he wanted to meet them. Reynolds and the others went to meet Albizu Campos as requested. That was the beginning of a lifelong friendship between Reynolds and Albizu Campos.
Not only had Albizu Campos learned about the group's activities with the Puerto Rican community, he'd also learned that the group was involved with the non-violent "Free India" movement." He convinced their group to become involved with a "Free Puerto Rico" movement, since he thought it was a comparable case of colonialism – the United States' colonization of Puerto Rico. Even though the members of the group opposed the use of violence as a way of obtaining independence, they did agree that Puerto Rico should have its independence and became advocates of the island's independence.
Soon afterwards, Reynolds and her colleagues founded the American League for Puerto Rico's Independence and she was named Executive Secretary. In 1945, Reynolds made her first trip to Puerto Rico in order to see the social, economic, and political conditions in the island. From 1946 to 1947, Reynolds appeared before the United Nations, where she lobbied in favor of Puerto Rico's independence. She charged that the treatment of Puerto Rico by the United States was in violation of the "Declaration Regarding Non-Self-Governing Territories" set forth in Chapter 11, Article 73 of the United Nations Charter. She also testified before the United States Congress in regard to the situation of the island. She returned to the island on 1948, to investigate the student strike at the University of Puerto Rico.
Puerto Rican Nationalist Party Revolts of the 1950s
The Puerto Rican Nationalist Party Revolts of the 1950s was a widespread campaign for independence by the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party, against United States Government rule over Puerto Rico. It specifically repudiated the so-called "Free Associated State" (Estado Libre Asociado) designation of Puerto Rico – a designation that the nationalists considered a "colonial farce".
The revolts began on October 30, 1950, upon the orders of Nationalist leader Pedro Albizu Campos, with uprisings in various towns, among them Peñuelas, Mayagüez, Naranjito, Arecibo, and Ponce. The most notable uprisings occurred in Utuado, Jayuya, and San Juan.