Education and the US Occupation of the Dominican Republic, 1916-1924
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“For the Prosperity of the Nation”: Education and the US Occupation of the Dominican Republic, 1916-1924 Alexa Rodríguez Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy under the Executive Committee of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2021 © 2021 Alexa Rodríguez All Rights Reserved Abstract “For the Prosperity of the Nation”: Education and the US Occupation of the Dominican Republic, 1916-1924 Alexa Rodríguez This dissertation examines the 1916 US occupation of the Dominican Republic to analyze how US and Dominican stakeholders used public schools to disseminate their notions of Dominican citizenship. Drawing on correspondence and memos from the Department of Public Instruction in the Dominican Republic and US military government, as well as periodicals and newspapers from both countries, this dissertation examines how US officials, education administrators, and guardians engaged in these efforts. Organized chronologically, the chapters of the dissertation feature the perspective of a core set of actors and bring attention to their distinct visions for Dominican citizenship. Although the US military government used schools to exert state control, Dominicans individually and collectively redirected these state institutions to serve their needs and to negotiate their relationship to the state. Schools were central to how both Americans and Dominicans of all classes articulated, circulated, and practiced ideas about membership to and within the Dominican nation. From plans to create US allies in an expanding US empire to the formation of an economically productive “mulatto” rural peasantry and a cultured and informed citizenry, US officers in the military government as well as Dominican education administrators and guardians, used public schools to realize their imaginings for the Dominican nation. In doing so, this dissertation provides two critical interventions. First, this work decenters the US in histories of American imperialism, showing that local actors were active participants in US efforts and vital to shaping their own visions of citizenship through public schools. It places the plans and actions of US officials alongside Dominicans who supported the policies, opposed them, or were more interested in the opportunities they purported to provide. Second, this dissertation gives prominence to Dominican subjects and voices by studying their statements and actions in response to US efforts. It features a range of Dominican perspectives and reactions to the US military government and the education reforms themselves, from collaboration and cooperation to resistance. Table of Contents List of Figures ........................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgments ..................................................................................................................... iv Dedicación ................................................................................................................................ ix Chapter I: Introduction ................................................................................................................1 Chapter II: Empire, Education, and Citizenship in the Dominican Republic, 1822–1916 ........... 27 Introduction........................................................................................................................... 27 Troubling Education and Empire ........................................................................................... 29 Between Empires: Dominican Struggles for Political Sovereignty ......................................... 40 Schools and Citizenship in Nineteenth-Century Dominican Republic .................................... 46 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 55 Chapter III: Crafting the Education Policy, 1916–1918 ............................................................. 58 Introduction........................................................................................................................... 58 US-Dominican Relations prior to the 1916 Occupation ......................................................... 59 Education and the US Occupation ......................................................................................... 69 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 94 Chapter IV: Executing the Education Policy, 1918–1920 .......................................................... 96 Introduction........................................................................................................................... 96 The Vision for Education: Educational Administrators .......................................................... 98 Implementing the Vision ..................................................................................................... 113 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 138 Chapter V: The Collapse of the Public School System, 1920–1924 ......................................... 141 Introduction......................................................................................................................... 141 The Decline of the School System ....................................................................................... 143 Schools and Community-Based Citizenship ........................................................................ 160 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 176 Chapter VI: Conclusion ........................................................................................................... 179 Bibliography ........................................................................................................................... 197 Appendix A: Glossary ............................................................................................................. 218 Appendix B: Map of the Dominican Republic ......................................................................... 221 Appendix C: Organizational Structure of the Public School System, 1916–1924 .................... 222 Appendix D: Number of Public Primary and Secondary Schools, 1867–1920.......................... 223 i Appendix E: Number of Students Enrolled in Public Schools, 1867–1920 ............................... 224 Appendix F: Number of Rudimentary Schools, 1916–1920 ..................................................... 225 Appendix G: Number of Students Enrolled in Public Schools, 1916–1924 .............................. 226 ii List of Figures 2.1 Mapa de la isla de Santo Domingo y Haiti, 1906 ................................................................ 42 3.1 “Hands off!” Judge, 1904 ................................................................................................... 64 3.2 “Next!” The Washington Post, 1905 ................................................................................... 72 3.3 “Trouble Ahead for the Trainer,” Puck, 1905...................................................................... 78 4.1 “Julio Ortega Frier,” 1947 ................................................................................................ 101 4.2 “Girls Exercise at School, Dominican Republic, World War I,” c.1920s ........................... 119 4.3 “Boys Exercise to Keep Physically Fit,” c.1920s .............................................................. 119 5.1 Rural School in Santo Domingo, 1920 .............................................................................. 149 5.2 Casa-Escuela en la ciudad de Santo Domingo, 1923 ......................................................... 153 iii Acknowledgments Although the genesis of this work began almost a decade ago as an undergraduate thesis at Fordham University, I wrote this dissertation during the centennial anniversary of the 1916 US occupation. However, my dissertation has also been shaped by multiple world-changing events: attacks of racial violence across the country and at my university, the Trump presidency and related assaults on democracy and democratic institutions in the US, as well as my hometown becoming an epicenter of the Coronavirus pandemic, which took the lives of tens of thousands of New Yorkers. 2020 was a particularly remarkable year, for both good and bad. In this time of crisis, many things have also brought me joy and inspiration. I was able to bear witness to the mobilization of Black Lives Matter protests, the complexity of Latinx identity being questioned and debated, and the resilience of my city and my people. These moments and events have helped me not just survive these difficult times, but to truly flourish. They have provided me with the fortitude to complete this dissertation. Yet, I did not accomplish this alone, and I would not have been able to write this dissertation without my community of friends, family, archivists, scholars, and mentors, who have helped me along the way. My advisor and mentor, Professor Cally L. Waite, has made a profound impact on me and my scholarship. Her reach has been far beyond the words and ideas contained in this dissertation. Through Professor Waite’s guidance, I have learned to hone my voice