Interview with Carmen E. Arroyo (Bronx Latino History Project)
Channel: Bronx Latino History Project
Date: 2023-08-11

Carmen E. Arroyo is a native of Puerto Rico and the first Hispanic (Puerto Rican) woman elected to the New York State Assembly or any State Assembly in the U.S. She served the 84th Assembly District, which covers the Mott Haven, Port Morris, Melrose, The Hub, Longwood, Concourse, and Hunts Point sections of the South Bronx.  Arroyo was born and raised in Las Cuchillas, a neighborhood in the town of Corozal, Puerto Rico where she received both her primary and secondary education and vocational training. 

In 1964, Arroyo moved to New York City as a single mother and eventually earned enough money to send for her seven children and settled down in the borough of the Bronx. While the idea of the move to the United States was a search for a better way of life she was soon faced with racial discrimination and other hardships. Arroyo became dependent on the welfare and public assistance systems of the state.

Arroyo took classes in English and attended Eugenio María de Hostos Community College, of the City University of New York (CUNY) where in 1978 she earned her Associate of Arts degree. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from the College of New Rochelle (Bronx Campus).  Coincidently, during her political career she worked tirelessly for the establishment of Hostos Community College and the Bronx Campus of The College of New Rochelle. Assemblymember Arroyo's priorities during her political career were the establishment of bi-lingual education and charter schools.

The interviewers are Michelle Jordan, graduate student at the Palmer School of Library and Information Science and creator of the Legacy Pioneers Oral History Initiative (LPOI), Rosie Jordan (Michelle's mother and daughter of New York - Puerto Rican political and civic leader Jorge Rodriguez) and Pastor Crespo, Jr., research librarian/archivist at The Bronx County Historical Society. The Legacy Pioneers Oral History Initiative (LPOI) is a part of The Bronx Latino History Project (BLHP) which is a project of The Bronx County Archives at The Bronx County Historical Society Research Library.