Meléndez, Concha, 1895-1983

Doctora Concha Meléndez Ramírez is synonymous with major trends in Puerto Rican literature, in particular the legacy of the Generación del Treinta (Generation of 1930), a 1930s middle-class creole literary movement that, in response to U.S. control over the island, shaped Puerto Rico’s 20th-century national cultural identity. This house was the primary residence and workspace of Doctora Concha Meléndez Ramírez (1895-1983), a prolific literary critic and one of the most prominent female voices in the Generación del Treinta and subsequent 20th-century Puerto Rican literary criticism. Meléndez, one of Puerto Rico’s most important intellectual figures, resided here for 43 years. Her house continues to serve as a forefront for the promotion of Puerto Rican literature.

Concha Meléndez Ramírez was born in Caguas, Puerto Rico on January 21, 1895. In 1902, Meléndez and her family moved to San Juan, Puerto Rico’s largest city and the center of cultural and political life. She graduated from the University of Puerto Rico’s high school in 1915, received her bachelor’s degree in 1922, and started teaching high school. In the early 1930s, Meléndez became the first woman ever to graduate with a doctorate from the National Autonomous University of Mexico’s prestigious Department of Philosophy and Letters. Meléndez remained in San Juan until her death.

In 1898, during the Spanish-American War, the United States invaded and took control of Puerto Rico, which started a strained relationship between Puerto Ricans and the U.S. government. The working class, creole elites, and women of all social classes experienced turmoil as pre-1898 social roles shifted accompanied by simultaneous expansions and retractions of social possibility, which paved the way for the Generación del Treinta. Meléndez grew up during Puerto Rico’s transition from Spanish to American rule, a period characterized by much political, economic, and social upheaval.