Iglesias Family Foundation

03/16/2026

Last year we discovered there’s a Santiago Iglesias Café in San Juan! Tim Iglesias went by last month. ☕️

01/31/2026

Happy New Year from the IFF! We're grateful to work with experts like Max Dueñas and Eduardo Matos. Take care and stay safe, everyone.

12/02/2025

Today is Giving Tuesday, a day to celebrate and support charitable causes in the wake of all the Black Friday sales. We can buy stuff, yes, but what if we could use our dollars to build something really special for a school community in Puerto Rico?

🇵🇷🌺📚🎙️💻🎓🚸

Join us by donating today! https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/donation-form/support-iglesias-family-foundation-this-giving-tuesday

Thank you in advance for supporting us on 2025!

09/09/2025

El maestro Emanuel Santana (junto al maestro Rafael Cepeda) nos brinda una interpretación inolvidable! • An unforgettable experience brought to you by a modern maestro of plena, Emanuel Santana, inspired by the legendary Rafael Cepeda.

The source of the film clip comes from "Plena is Work, Plena is Song," originally filmed in color negative 16mm, written, coproduced and codirected by Pedro Ángel Rivera Muñoz and Susan Zeig, under the fiscal and administrative sponsorship of the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at City University of New York's Hunter College.

09/02/2025

In Puerto Rico, today is "Santiago Iglesias Pantín Day"! Some members of the Iglesias family were fortunate enough to gather at his statue this afternoon in Puerta de Tierra, San Juan, PR to celebrate US Labor Day and our ancestor.

He is an important figure in Puerto Rican history, especially labor history. Iglesias was instrumental in organizing Puerto Rican workers into unions, introducing collective bargaining, pushing for humane working conditions, cofounding PR’s first socialist party and more.

His strategies—grassroots organizing, strikes, political lobbying and electoral representation—laid the groundwork for today’s labor protections and continue to inform best practices in worker advocacy. He was controversial in his time and is controversial now among some commentators.

There’s much to learn and discuss in his actions and decisions. One cannot understand PR’s political and labor history without understanding his work and involvement.

From the preamble of the 1940 law honoring him:

"Santiago Iglesias Pantín was a symbol and executor of a movement that had and has as its motto the progressive preparation of our working classes for the noble postulates of democracy, and that movement translated and materialized into a path that opened new horizons and previously unheard-of possibilities for improvement for all individuals who work our land."

For further reading:

www.santiagoiglesiaspantin.org

bvirtualogp.pr.gov/ogp/Bvirtual/leyesreferencia/PDF/40-1940.pdf

05/31/2025

Recientemente la Fundación Iglesias Family Foundation, visitó la Escuela Santiago Iglesias Pantín de Ceiba, esto con el propósito de establecer alianzas y colaboraciones con el plantel escolar.

El Lcdo. Tim Iglesias, presidente de la IFF y nieto de Iglesias Pantín, visitó la escuela donde intercambió impresiónes con la directora escolar, Illiannette Pérez Solis.

La misión de esta fundación es honrar la memoria de su abuelo mediante la promoción de la justicia social, la educación sobre los derechos laborales y la preservación de la historia del movimiento obrero en Puerto Rico.

05/22/2025

05/16/2025

Today, May 16th, we celebrate the birthday of Don Bolívar Pagán Lucca! Santiago Iglesias Pantín mentored Pagán and was “the one responsible for his political development within the Socialist Party and the Puerto Rican labor movement.” Pagán also wed his daughter, Clara Igualdad Iglesias Bocanegra.

And in the words of Evelyn Solá Maldonado, librarian and archivist of the Santiago Iglesias Pantín Labor Documentation Center (CDOSIP) at the University of Puerto Rico in Humacao:

“To write about Bolívar Pagán is not easy, because he was a master of word and prose. I describe him as a highly sensitive gentleman; a very cultured, brilliant writer, journalist, historian, librarian, legislator, politician, and orator. His life combined his annexationist ideals with his lifelong commitment to the intellectual development of his Puerto Rican people."

Solá Maldonado goes on to say: "He was so passionate about literature that he wanted to offer opportunities to talented individuals by creating laws offering underprivileged youth the opportunity to study at the University of Puerto Rico. Bolívar Pagán was also responsible for the Puerto Rican Institute of Literature's prizes, establishing annual awards for the best book of the year, thus promoting the intellectual dissemination of Puerto Rican works in the mid-20th century. The Puerto Rican people recognize the tenacity, harmony, diligence, and discipline with which this man combined literary and political themes.”

When SIP passed away, “Bolívar Pagán, elected to succeed his father-in-law, memorialized Iglesias on the House Floor. “A hard worker, a bold fighter, and beloved leader for my land on the seas,” Pagán noted. “[Iglesias] had devoted more than 40 years to the awakening to the betterment, to the welfare, and to the social and economic freedom of our common people.” He later described his father-in-law as “a live wire, a human dynamo, an energetic, honest, and far-sighted statesman at the service of the people.””

Sources:

Bolívar Pagán Biography, Senate of Puerto Rico (https://senado.pr.gov/past-presidents/bol%C3%ADvar-pag%C3%A1n-19331939); “Iglesias, Santiago” biography from US House of Representatives (https://history.house.gov/People/Detail/15620?ret=True), and “Bolívar Pagán Lucca” biography by Evelyn Solá Maldonado, 2012

05/01/2025

From Jewels, one of the winners of our first annual high school essay contest: “In the 20th century, Puerto Rico’s working class faced harsh conditions, low wages, and exploitative labor practices. Amidst these oppressive circumstances, Santiago Iglesias Pantín emerged as a fearless labor leader, challenging the prevailing status quo. Puerto Rico’s labor movement underwent a rapid transformation, and Iglesias’ leadership in labor unions, political activism, and unwavering commitment to workers’ rights became the driving force behind this movement.”

04/30/2025

In April 2025, IFF sponsored the first annual Santiago Iglesias Pantín Essay Contest at Escuela Superior Santiago Iglesias Pantin in Ceiba, Puerto Rico. The goals of the essay contest were to encourage students at the school to learn about Santiago Iglesias Pantín and to engage in reflection on his legacy. The essay question prompt was: "Who was Santiago Iglesias Pantín? And why is his legacy relevant today in politics and labor struggles?" The contest was open to juniors and seniors. Nineteen students submitted essays. The essay winners each received a cash prize.

IFF is very grateful to everyone who helped make it happen: Principal Iliannette Perez Solis, teachers Yenisses Gittens and Wilda Muniz Ortiz, and the judges Miriam “Minin” Portela Rodriguez, Manuel “Lin” Iglesias Beléndez, and Luis Iglesias. The judges deserve special gratitude because there was an island-wide blackout while they were grading the essays.

Disclaimer: IFF does not endorse the factual accuracy of any of statements made in the essays, nor does it express any view on the opinions expressed by the students in their essays.

https://www.santiagoiglesiaspantin.org/news/2025-04-29-first-sip-essay-contest