Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos Puerto Rican High School (PACHS) is an alternative high school located in the Humboldt Park neighborhood on the Paseo Boricua in Chicago, Illinois, United States. [1] It is named for Puerto Rican nationalist Pedro Albizu Campos, and was founded in 1972 as La Escuelita Puertorriqueña, originally in the basement of a Chicago church. [2] The school is NALSAS accredited, a founding member of the Alternative Schools Network, and a campus of the Youth Connection Charter School in Chicago. PACHS celebrated its 50th anniversary in October 2022.
PACHS was founded by concerned community members in response to a March 1971 study [3] that cited a 71.2% high school dropout rate for Puerto Rican youth. [4] Originally named "La Escuelita Puertorriqueña", the school began in the basement of a Chicago church as a response to alleged Eurocentric curricula and purported negative pedagogical conditions [ clarification needed ] faced by Puerto Ricans in public schools. By 1974, the school had been moved two miles northeast of [Paseo Boricua], [2] where it remained until moving to its current location on Division.
The Lolita Lebrón Family Learning Center is a satellite program of the high school which integrates educational activities for young adults and children, provides daycare services, and offer classes in women's health and wellness at the high school. [5] In March, 2011, PACHS inaugurated a rooftop greenhouse as an extension of its science lab [6] in order to teach students about urban agriculture and help address the high rates of obesity and diabetes in Humboldt Park, which may explain its 2006 designation as an urban "Food Desert". [7]
Pedro Albizu Campos was a Puerto Rican attorney and politician, and a leading figure in the Puerto Rican independence movement. He was the president and spokesperson of the Nationalist Party of Puerto Rico from 1930 until his death. He led the nationalist revolts of October 1950 against the United States government in Puerto Rico. Albizu Campos spent a total of twenty-six years in prison at various times for his Puerto Rican independence activities.
Juan Morel Campos, sometimes erroneously spelled Juan Morell Campos, was a Puerto Rican composer, considered by many to be responsible for taking the genre of danza to its highest level. He composed over 550 musical works before he died unexpectedly at age 38.
Humboldt Park, one of 77 designated community areas, is on the West Side of Chicago, Illinois. The Humboldt Park neighborhood is known for its dynamic social and ethnic demographic change over the years. The Puerto Rican community has identified strongly with the area since the 1970s. Humboldt Park is also the name of a 207-acre (0.8 km2) park adjacent to the community area.
Juan Antonio Corretjer Montes was a Puerto Rican poet, journalist and pro-independence political activist opposing United States rule in Puerto Rico.
The Nationalist Party of Puerto Rico is a Puerto Rican political party founded on September 17, 1922, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Its primary goal is to work for Puerto Rico's independence. The Party's selection in 1930 of Pedro Albizu Campos as its president brought a radical change to the organization and its tactics.
Division Street is a major east-west street in Chicago, Illinois, located at 1200 North. Division Street begins in the Gold Coast neighborhood near Lake Shore Drive, passes through Polonia Triangle at Milwaukee Avenue into Wicker Park and continues to Chicago's city limits and into the city's western suburbs. Once known as "Polish Broadway" during the heyday of Polish Downtown, Division Street was the favorite street of author Nelson Algren. A fountain dedicated in his name was installed in what had been the area that figured as the inspiration for much of his work.
The Division Street riots were episodes of rioting and civil unrest, which started on June 12 and continued through June 14, 1966. These riots are remembered as a turning point in Puerto Rican civic involvement in Chicago. This was the first riot in the United States attributed to Puerto Ricans.
Roberto Clemente Community Academy is a public 4–year high school located in the West Town community area of Chicago, Illinois. Operated by the Chicago Public Schools, the school is named for Puerto Rican baseball player Roberto Enrique Clemente (1934–1972).
Paseo Boricua is a section of Division Street in the Humboldt Park community of the West Side of Chicago, Illinois.
The Puerto Rican Nationalist Party insurgency was a series of coordinated insurrections for the secession of Puerto Rico led by the president of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party, Don Pedro Albizu Campos, against the United States government's rule over the islands of Puerto Rico. The party repudiated the "Free Associated State" status that had been enacted in 1950 and which the Nationalists considered a continuation of colonialism.
Puerto Ricans in Chicago are individuals residing in Chicago with ancestral ties to the island of Puerto Rico. Over more than seventy years, they have made significant contributions to the economic, social, and cultural fabric of the city. This is known as the city of multiple cultures.
Isolina Rondón was a political activist. She was one of the few witnesses of the killing of four Nationalists committed by local police officers in Puerto Rico during a confrontation with the supporters of the Nationalist Party that occurred on October 24, 1935, and which is known as the Río Piedras massacre. Rondón joined the political movement and became the Treasurer of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party which staged various uprisings in Puerto Rico against the colonial Government of the United States in 1950.
Youth Connection Charter School (YCCS) is a charter school in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1997 it is the only charter school in Illinois that targets dropouts and other at-risk students. YCCS serves over 3,500 students through 17 campuses throughout Chicago.
José S. Alegría was a poet, writer, lawyer and politician. Alegría was a founding member of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party and president of the political organization from 1928 to 1930.
Vidal Santiago Díaz was a member of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party and served as president of the Santurce Municipal Board of officers of the party. He was also the personal barber of Nationalist leader Pedro Albizu Campos. Though not involved in the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party Revolts of the 1950s, Santiago Díaz's barbershop was attacked by forty armed police officers and U.S. National Guardsmen. The attack was historic in Puerto Rico—the first time an event of that magnitude had ever been transmitted live via radio and heard all over the island.
The National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts and Culture is a museum in Chicago dedicated to interpreting the arts and culture of the Puerto Rican people and of the Puerto Ricans in Chicago. Founded in 2001, it is housed in the historic landmark Humboldt Park stables and receptory, near the Paseo Boricua.
Irvin Flores was a political activist, member of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party and an advocate of Puerto Rican independence. Flores was a leader of the Nationalist faction of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico during the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party revolts of the 1950s. On March 1, 1954, Flores together with fellow Nationalists Lolita Lebrón, Andrés Figueroa Cordero, and Rafael Cancel Miranda entered the United States Capitol building armed with automatic pistols and fired 30 shots. Five Congressmen were wounded, however all the representatives survived and Flores, along with the other three members of his group were immediately arrested.
Pedro Albizu Campos is a statue to the memory of the Puerto Rican attorney and politician, and the leading figure in the Puerto Rican independence movement, Pedro Albizu Campos. It is at Parque Pedro Albizu Campos in Ponce, Puerto Rico, where Albizu Campos's residence used to be in the community of Tenerias, Barrio Machuelo Abajo. The statue is in bronze.
Laura Meneses del Carpio was the first Latin American in 1920 to be accepted into Radcliffe College, the women's educational institution affiliated with Harvard University. She earned a doctorate in natural sciences and became active in the movement for Puerto Rican independence from the United States.
Jessica "Jessie" Fuentes is an American politician from Chicago. She is the alderperson for Chicago City Council's 26th ward, having won the 2023 election to the office. The 26th ward includes parts of the Humboldt Park, Logan Square, Hermosa, West Town, and Belmont Cragin neighborhoods.
Dr. Pedro Albizu Campos High School | 2739-41 W. Division Street | PASEO BORICUA | Chicago, IL 60622