Pursuant to a law approved in 1903, "An Act for the Approval and Conservation of Certain Historical Data of Puerto Rico", the Puerto Rico Legislature created the Office of the Official Historian of Puerto Rico. The historians who held the position during the early decades of the 20th century included Francisco Mariano Quiñones, Salvador Brau y Asencio, Dr.

Cayetano Coll y Toste Dr. Cayetano Coll y Toste (November 30, 1850 – November 19, 1930), was a Puerto Rican historian and writer. He was the patriarch of a prominent family of Puerto Rican educators, politicians and writers. Early years Coll y Toste was born in th ...

, Mariano Abril and

Adolfo de Hostos Adolfo de Hostos (January 8, 1887 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic – October 29, 1982 in San Juan, Puerto Rico) served in the mid twentieth century, from January 1936 to 1950, as the fifth Official Historian of Puerto Rico, a position crea ...

. The office remained vacant until 1993, when then Sen.

Kenneth McClintock Kenneth Davison McClintock-Hernández (born January 19, 1957) is a politician who served as the twenty-second Secretary of State of Puerto Rico, one of the four longest serving in that post. McClintock served as co-chair of Hillary Clinton’s Na ...

authored a measure to reestablish the office. Upon its approval, Senate President

Roberto Rexach Benítez Roberto Nicolás Rexach Benítez (December 18, 1929 – April 4, 2012) also known as his stage name Bobby, was a Puerto Rican politician, and former Senator and Representative. Rexach Benítez served as the tenth President of the Senate of Pue ...

and House Speaker Zaida Hernández Torres appointed Dr.

Pilar Barbosa Pilar Barbosa de Rosario This name uses Spanish marriage naming customs; the first is the maiden family name '' "Barbosa"'' and the second or matrimonial family name is ''de "Rosario"''. (July 4, 1898 – January 22, 1997) was an educator, histor ...

as the first Official Historian in the office's "modern era". The first female to hold the job, she held it until her death in 1997. At that time, Senate President

Charlie Rodríguez Charles Anthony Rodríguez-Colón (born August 26, 1954) is a New York City-born Puerto Rican politician affiliated with the New Progressive Party (NPP). He served as the eleventh president of the Senate of Puerto Rico from 1997 until 2000. E ...

and House Speaker

Edison Misla Aldarondo Edison Misla Aldarondo (August 29, 1942 - 30 November 2021) was a Puerto Rican Republican politician who served as the Speaker of the Puerto Rican House of Representatives from 1997 to 2001. He was a founder of the pro-statehood New Progressive ...

appointed Dr.

Luis González Vale Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archaic ...

, the current incumbent. Under Dr. González Vale's leadership, the office has collaborated on multiple publications, including the letters of Resident Commissioner Félix Córdova Dávila, and several works regarding Puerto Rico's military history. In 2005, in collaboration with Puerto Rico's Endowment for the Humanities and the

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

, his office published an eight-book "We, the People" Puerto Rican Series of books regarding the history of Puerto Rico during the first 30 years of US sovereignty. Dr. González Vale was invited to testify as a non-partisan witness at hearings held by the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Insular Affairs on legislation regarding Puerto Rico's future political relationship with the United States.

References

Sources

Office of Legislative Services - Senate of Puerto Rico - House of Representatives
* Colección "We the People" Puerto Rican series, 2005, Ediciones Puerto, POBox 9066272 San Juan PR 00906-6072,
Feria Internacional del Libro de Puerto Rico
{{authority control History of Puerto Rico Historical societies of the United States