Explore the real-world places that appear in War Against All Puerto Ricans by Nelson A. Denis. Each location on the map shows what happens there in the novel, the real history of the place, and what's there today. Featured locations include La Fortaleza, Jayuya Town Plaza and Police Station, Casa Canales (Blanca Canales Museum), Utuado Town Center, Ponce (Birthplace of Albizu Campos) and 8 more.
Calle Fortaleza, Old San Juan — Governor's mansion and target of the 1950 attack
On October 30, 1950, Nationalist gunmen led by Raimundo Diaz Pacheco, Heriberto Castro and others drove up to La Fortaleza and opened fire in an attempt to reach Governor Luis Munoz Marin. Denis presents the attack as part of the wider Nationalist revolt launched after Albizu Campos ordered the uprising. The attackers were killed in a gun battle with guards.
La Fortaleza was built in the 1530s as a fortress and has served as the residence of Puerto Rico's governors for centuries. It is one of the oldest executive mansions in continuous use in the Western Hemisphere. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage site of San Juan.
It remains the governor's official residence and offices. Guided tours are offered to the public on specific days.
Visit: La Fortaleza and San Juan National Historic Site (historic site)
Jayuya — Site of the Grito de Jayuya
In Jayuya, Blanca Canales led Nationalists who seized the town, burned the police station and raised the Puerto Rican flag, which was banned under the Gag Law. They declared the Republic of Puerto Rico. Denis recounts how the U.S.-backed government responded by bombing the town with aircraft and sending in the National Guard.
Jayuya is a mountain municipality in the central highlands. The 1950 revolt there was the most prominent of the Nationalist uprisings. The town was bombed by planes of the Puerto Rican National Guard.
Jayuya commemorates the Grito de Jayuya each year. Its central plaza and local monuments honor the uprising.
Visit: Plaza de Jayuya (park)
Barrio Coabey, Jayuya — Nationalist headquarters
Blanca Canales's family house served as a gathering point where Nationalists collected weapons before the October 30 attack. Here Canales, one of the leading women of the movement, prepared the fighters and guns. The flag was raised from here after they took the town.
The wooden house was built in the early twentieth century by the Canales family. It later became a Nationalist rallying point and was declared a historic site.
It is now a small museum dedicated to Blanca Canales and the 1950 Jayuya uprising.
Visit: Casa Museo Blanca Canales (museum)
Utuado — Nationalist fight and massacre
In Utuado, Nationalists attacked the police station and then fought the National Guard. Denis describes how survivors were rounded up and several were executed at the town's police headquarters after being captured. The episode shows the severity of the government response.
Utuado is a mountain town in the island's interior. The 1950 Utuado uprising was among those in which Nationalists were killed by the Guard.
A memorial in Utuado honors the Nationalists killed in the 1950 uprising. The town is also known for its coffee and the nearby Caguana ceremonial park.
Visit: Utuado Plaza and Nationalist Memorial (monument)
Barrio Machuelo Abajo, Ponce — Early life
Denis opens with the origins of Pedro Albizu Campos, born in Ponce to a mixed-race family, raised by his aunt after his mother's death. His experiences with racial discrimination shaped his political outlook. He later won a scholarship to the University of Vermont and then Harvard.
Ponce is Puerto Rico's second-largest city and was a center of commerce and culture. Albizu Campos was born there in 1891. He became a lawyer, graduated Harvard, and led the Nationalist Party.
Ponce has a museum devoted to Albizu Campos and his birthplace is a point of local historical interest.
Visit: Museo Casa Albizu Campos (museum)
Calle Marina, Ponce — Palm Sunday 1937
Denis describes the Palm Sunday Massacre of March 21, 1937, when police under Governor Blanton Winship fired into a peaceful Nationalist march, killing about 19 people. The tragedy hardened Albizu Campos's convictions. Denis uses it to illustrate colonial violence against Puerto Ricans.
The Ponce Massacre took place on March 21, 1937, during a parade permitted and then blocked by authorities. A commission by the ACLU found the police responsible.
The Museo de la Masacre de Ponce occupies the building near the site and documents the event.
Visit: Museo de la Masacre de Ponce (museum)
Rio Piedras, San Juan — Prison where Nationalists were held
Albizu Campos was imprisoned here after the 1930s sedition conviction and again after 1950. Denis details the alleged radiation experiments and ill treatment he suffered, claiming guards saw burns and sores on his body. His health collapsed under the abuse.
The Oso Blanco penitentiary in Rio Piedras served as the main prison for decades. Many Nationalists were held there. Albizu Campos was later transferred to hospital.
The old penitentiary is no longer used as a prison and the area has been redeveloped.
Atlanta, Georgia — Albizu Campos's imprisonment
After his 1936 conviction for seditious conspiracy, Albizu Campos was sent to Atlanta. Denis recounts his treatment there, including claims of experimentation and decline in his health. He was held with other Nationalist leaders.
The U.S. Penitentiary Atlanta opened in 1902 and held famous inmates such as Al Capone and Eugene V. Debs.
It remains an active federal prison and is closed to casual visitors.
First Street — 1954 Nationalist shooting
On March 1, 1954, Lolita Lebron, Rafael Cancel Miranda, Irvin Flores and Andres Figueroa Cordero opened fire in the House of Representatives gallery, wounding five congressmen. Lebron unfurled a Puerto Rican flag and shouted for Puerto Rican independence. Denis frames the attack as a protest against ongoing colonial control.
The U.S. Capitol has housed Congress since 1800. The 1954 shooting led to long prison sentences for the four Nationalists.
The Capitol is open to visitors with guided tours through the Visitor Center.
Visit: United States Capitol Visitor Center (landmark)
1651 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington D.C. — 1950 assassination attempt
On November 1, 1950, Nationalists Oscar Collazo and Griselio Torresola attacked Blair House, where President Harry Truman was staying. Torresola and a guard, Leslie Coffelt, were killed. Denis treats the attack as part of the Nationalists' wider uprising.
Blair House has served as the president's guest house since 1942. Truman lived there while the White House was being renovated.
It is still the official guest house for visiting dignitaries. It is not open to the public, though a plaque honors Coffelt.
Calle Sol, San Juan — Albizu Campos's base
Albizu Campos led the Nationalist Party from San Juan, organizing rallies and calling for independence from the United States. In 1950 police besieged his home. Denis shows how surveillance, informants and the FBI infiltrated the party.
The party was founded in 1922 and became more militant under Albizu Campos in the 1930s. It was the main force for armed resistance against U.S. rule.
Old San Juan is a major tourist district filled with colonial buildings. The party's original offices are not a public site.
Avenida Ponce de Leon, San Juan — Colonial legislature
The legislature passed Law 53, the Gag Law of 1948, which made displaying the Puerto Rican flag and speaking for independence a crime. Denis describes it as a key repressive measure pushed by Munoz Marin's government. It helped provoke the 1950 revolt.
The Capitol building was completed in 1929 and is the seat of Puerto Rico's legislature. The Gag Law was in force from 1948 to 1957.
The Capitol is open for free public tours and houses artwork and exhibits.
Visit: Capitol of Puerto Rico (landmark)
East Harlem (El Barrio), Manhattan — Diaspora support
Albizu Campos spent time in New York in the 1920s and 30s, building support among Puerto Rican migrants. Denis shows the diaspora as a source of funds and organizing. Oscar Collazo lived in the Bronx and Griselio Torresola in Harlem before traveling to Washington.
East Harlem became the center of the Puerto Rican community in New York from the 1920s onward. The area was known as El Barrio.
El Barrio remains a Latino cultural hub with the Museo del Barrio and many murals.
Visit: El Museo del Barrio (museum)
More by Nelson A. Denis: All Nelson A. Denis books
Other nearby maps: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz locations map