page_title: Museo de Arqueología de la Pontificia Universidad Católica de Puerto Rico
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Museo de Arqueología de la Pontificia Universidad Católica de Puerto Rico / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Un cliente aprecia artefactos del Museo de Arqueología, Biblioteca Encarnación Valdés, PUCPR, Bo. Canas Urbano, Ponce, PR (20191217 130637)
context_page_description: The Museo de Arqueología de la Pontificia Universidad Católica de Puerto Rico is a museum of archaeology located at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Puerto Rico main campus on Avenida Las Américas in Ponce, Puerto Rico. The museum is an educational unit of the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico's Biblioteca Encarnación Valdés, the university's main library. It has a collection of more than 10,000 artifacts from the past civilizations of Puerto Rico, including Igneri, Pre-Taíno, and Taíno cultures. In addition to displaying its permanent and special exhibitions, the museum also guards numerous other artifacts which are currently not on display due to its space limitations.
context_section_description: In 1971, when Dr. Enrique Laguerre was head of the PUCPR's Department of Hispanic Studies, there was developing interest in creating a program on Puerto Rican Studies at the University. It was out of this interest that the first course on archaeology was created. It was also during this embryonic stages that the idea of creating a museum of archaeology at the university stated to take shape.
  Perhaps the earliest published records about this museum was made in 1973 and appeared in the Ateneo de Ponce's "SUR: Boletín del Ateneo de Ponce", volume 1, issue 2, page 12. In it, the author describes it as "a room with glass cabinets, relieve maps, remains and utensils of the ancient, the Igneris, and the Taino cultures of our Island". To augment its exposure to the study of archaeology, the University contracted with Dr. Ricardo Alegría who taught a course on archaeology in 1973-74 academic year. This offering with continued, upon Dr. Alegría's departure, by Professor Juan Manuel Ledesma Criado, who taught the course for two additional years. It was then that with the help of Mela Pons de Alegría, Ricardo Alegría, Juan Gonzalez, Luis A. Rodriguez Gracia, and several donors, Dr. Enrique Laguerre accomplished his dream of opening the museum.
  During the 1970s, the museum held collections obtained from the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña, pieces from the Mr. Herman Ferre's private collection, Santos from Dr. Luis F. Sala, archaeological discoveries donated by the Sociedad Guaynia de Arqueología e Historia, and miscellaneous donations from students and friends of the University, and for several years ran under the supervision of university professor Juan Manuel Ledesma Criado.
  Regretfully, the rapid growth of the university in terms of its student enrollment made it necessary to expropriate the area where the museum operated and turn it into a classroom for the university's English Language Institute. As a result, the museum was dismantled, with the archaeological material sent to storage and the exhibits put under the supervision of the University library.
  To provide continuity to the museum, Antonio Matos, the university librarian, arranged for the creation of two large glass displays at the library, thus creating the University Museum as an integral part of the library. The endeavor had the concurrence of university president Francisco Carreras, who also approved the allocation of approximately $12,000 ($47 thousand in 2019 dollars) towards the project. Meanwhile a batey was discovered in the mountain town of Utuado and, upon concurrence of University president Dr. Francisco J. Carreras, was brought in and annexed to the museum on the grounds next to the library.
  The collection was augmented from donations by  Herman Ferre, the brother of the former governor of Puerto Rico. This addition consisted of artifacts found at the Cañas archaeological site. Antonio Blasini also donated life-like replicas of various indigenous pieces. The completion of these bateys and the museum vitrines brought about the re-inauguration of the Museum on 20 November 1980 under the supervision of head librarian Antonio Matos Vazquez, and this is how the museum stands today (2020). Not long afterwards, the museum display area was enlarged to occupy areas underneath the library staircases that lead to the library's second floor. Two models were created, one for each area under the two staircases. In one of them, indigenous are shown enjoying a ball game; in the other simulates a burial in a cave.
  In the mid 1980s, Mr. Luis A. Rodriguez Gracia and Dr. Luis E. Diaz Hernandez engaged in the arduous and time-consuming task of cleaning, identifying, categorizing and, in general, curating the entirety of the collection not on display. The result of their work culminated in the publication of several reports, among them the voluminous "Curación y Conservación del Material Arqueológico del Sitio El Bronce, Ponce, Puerto Rico." This report, published in 1987, and submitted to the University president, Rev. P. Tosello Giangiacomo, contained, among other specifics,
caption: A patron checks out artifacts at the Museo de Arqueología at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Puerto Rico
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