History, Humanities, and Social Sciences Associate Professor Carmelo Esterrich’s new book examines a transformative time in the history of Puerto Rico.

On November 29, 2018, History, Humanities, and Social Sciences Associate Professor Carmelo Esterrich will discuss his new book, Concrete and Countryside: The Urban and the Rural in 1950's Puerto Rican Culture (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2018) as part of the Friends of the Library Signature Showcase.


From the late 1940s to the early 1960s, the island of Puerto Rico underwent rapid urbanization, and the rhetoric of economic development reigned over official discourses. Yet the newly installed insular government, along with some academic circles and radio and television media, constructed, promoted, and sponsored a narrative of Puerto Rican culture based on rural subjects, practices, and spaces. Concrete and Countryside offers an in-depth analysis of how Puerto Ricans responded to this transformative period.



Copies of his book will be available for purchase at the event courtesy of the Columbia College Chicago Bookstore. The program is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served at 6:00pm; program begins at 6:30pm. More information can be found on the Library’s Facebook Event Page.

Original graphic art from the 1950s will be on display before and after the presentation. The art, written about extensively in the book, was made at the Division for Community Education, an adult education government office. Photo courtesy of Carmelo Esterrich.

• Liberal Arts and Sciences
• Faculty
• Humanities, History, and Social Sciences

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