Cottage Museum
Since its opening on February 4, 2006, the House of Puerto Rico San Diego’s cottage hosts a museum aimed to preserve and promote the Puerto Rican culture and history. The Cottage Museum hosts exhibits, workshops, and events. It is open to the public every Saturday and Sunday from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm.

Culture Corner
The House of Puerto Rico’s Monthly Miembros y Amigos Meeting takes place every first Saturday of the month at 4:00 pm at the Cottage. There are no meetings in July and December. At the end of each meeting, we present a “Culture Corner,” which is a series of educational as well as entertaining presentations with a different topic each month. The meeting ends with a taste of Puerto Rico, a Potluck (bring something to share) and social hour. The Cultural Corner Program is designed to provide cultural education and fun to the attendees and to share the Puerto Rican experience. Topics include Día de Los Reyes Magos Celebration, Puerto Rican Stories, San Diego Latino Film Festival, Puerto Rican music, and Latino (Hispanic) Heritage Month to name a few.

New Programs:
Our programs vary depending on the needs and interest of our Membership. Below are possible active programs.

Fiesta Night, is an informal get together at a local event in town or at the Cottage. These include salsa music & dancing, theater, concerts, baseball games, to name a few.

Domino Club, has met every on Sunday’s, noon – 4:00 pm, outside the cottage museum on the back lawn. Or visited us during the weekend open house and we can play a few hands and teach you what a capicú is.

Sabor Criollo, is a seminar series focusing on the varieties of Puerto Rican cooking. These include the basics of sofrito, rice, plantain dishes, pork dishes, soups (asopaos), and desserts. These classes are enjoyed by all.

The Parranda Group, is an informal group (Christmas Caroling) that comes together during the Christmas season to share our musical traditions for the holiday season.

The parranda is a progressive party where a group of friends and family arrive at a home providing music and song. A song is sung with musicos asking for entry. The ”party” is welcomed into the home to eat, drink, and dance. Typically, each host has placed a bottle of rum or coquito, and crackers and cheese, aside in hopes that a parranda arrives at their door. Then the 'party' continues to the next home with those people joining in leaving the house with what they have on, usually pajamas, and off to the next house they go. This ‘party’ tends to go all night ending with a breakfast. This tradition starts around Thanksgiving in late November until Three Kings Day in early January.

To receive notices of upcoming programs & events, visit our website (left side panel) to register in our distribution list.

Lawn Program:
Every year in June the House of Puerto Rico San Diego holds their Lawn Program, for Día de San Juan.  The entertainment is provided by different groups, sometimes by Folkloric dance groups, Salsa bands, and musicians.  The beautiful dances and costumes of the Puerto Rican Culture as well as the authentic music are displayed in a colorful program.

Food:
Stop by our food booth where you will be able to enjoy delights such as arroz con habichuelas ó arroz con gandules(ricewith pinto beans or pigeon peas), flour: pastelillos (deep fried meat turnover) or plantain: alcapurrias, bacalaitos (cod fish fritters) and pernier (roast pork).  (We also have a food booth for the Ethnic Food Fair in May and the December Nights).

Social Events:
The house of Puerto Rico has many fun and educational activities throughout the year.  Here are a few of the Celebrations:

• January, Tres Reyes Celebration
• February, Cottage Annual Celebration
• March, Latino Film Festival
• May, Ethnic Food Fair
• June, Lawn Program - Día de San Juan
• September, Hispanic Heritage Month
• October, Club Anniversary
• December
  December Nights
  December, Annual Christmas Gala
  December, Annual Parrandas

The House of Puerto Rico develops a number of events and programs designed with the children in mind. The Three Kings Day celebration is done during the membership meeting in January. Here the children are visited by the Three Kings bearing gifts. In March, the College Student / Youth Committee (CSYC) sponsors the Día de Los Niños and in June, the Kids Games as part of the HPRSD Family Picnic.

Oye Boricua Nights
Oye Boricua nights is a social night for high school and college students.  Music, dancing fashion show, dance lessons and food are provided at Oye Boricua nights. These events are planned and organized by CSYC.

Scholarship Program
An annual Scholarship Program is part of the House of Puerto Rico’s contribution to help young college students.  It is called the “Casilda Pagan Scholarship” in honor of the founder of the organization. Application form is available on our website and is due on July 31st.

Youth Program
Cultural workshops designed for children are in the works. For more information, contact HPRSD.

House of Puerto Rico
The idea for a House of Puerto Rico in Balboa Park started in October 1972.  A group of San Diego Puerto Ricans led by Doña Casilda Pagan joined forces and organized ”La Casa de Puerto Rico.” After many years of fundraising, planning and hard work this vision became a dream come true. The House of Puerto Rico Cottage Museum was inaugurated on Saturday, February 4, 2006.

Puerto Rico
On the 19th of November 1493, Christopher Columbus landed on the island of Puerto Rico which he named San Juan Bautista, although the history of Puerto Rico begins a long time before this fateful event.  The island's name was changed to Porto Rico by the United States after the Treaty of Paris of 1898. The name was changed back to Puerto Rico in 1931 and the capital city was named San Juan. One of the first universities in the New World was founded there in San Juan.
Puerto Rico remained under Spanish rule and was granted autonomy during the Spanish American War of 1898 when the United States defeated the Spanish Navy in the Pacific and the Atlantic, thus Puerto Rico became a colony of the USA.
The Foraker Act of 1900 made Puerto Ricans “citizens of Puerto Rico, entitled to the protection of the U.S.”.  In 1917, congress passed the Jones Act granting U.S. citizenship to all persons born in Puerto Rico.  In 1950, congress enacted Law 600 that recognized Puerto Rico’s right to self-rule and authorized the organization of a government based on a constitution drawn up by Puerto Ricans.  The constitution creating the “Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico” (Commonwealth of Puerto Rico) was effective on the 25th of July 1952.  Since then, Puerto Ricans have elected their own governor, cabinet members, and congress.  Puerto Rico elects a “Resident Commissioner” in Washington who sits in congress (and can be a committee member) with voice but no vote.  Puerto Ricans can vote in the U.S. elections if they reside in the continental U.S.  However, they cannot be candidates for the presidency of the U.S. if they were born outside the continental U.S.

Puerto Ricans have contributed as citizens of the US in many different ways.  Did you know that the first shot of World War I (by the U.S.) was fired by a Puerto Rican serving in the US Army, Colonel Teofilo Marxuach, in Puerto Rico?

The House of Puerto Rico is an organization set for growth due, to a large part, to the opening of its cottage museum in Balboa Park.
The objectives of the House of Puerto Rico San Diego are:

• To promote a spirit of better understanding, tolerance, and goodwill amongst people of Puerto Rican descent and people of all nationalities and races.

• To promote and cultivate the Puerto Rican culture, and to promote various cultural exhibits in the “museum” cottage and present to the general public, programs of an educational, civic, cultural and artistic nature to cultivate a greater appreciation of the cultural heritage of Puerto Rico.

Land Area: 8,870 sq km
Population: 3,264,000 (2021)
Capital City: San Juan
Language: Spanish, English
Religion: Roman Catholic 75-85%, Other 15-25%
Form of Government: Commonwealth
Economy: Puerto Rico has been one of the most dynamic and competitive economies in Latin America and the Caribbean region until recent years, Puerto Rico's economy relies mainly on federal aid from the United States government. Since 2006, Puerto Rico's growth has been negative, due to the elimination of tax preferences that had led US companies to invest in the island since the 1950s.

Until the 1940's, Puerto Rico's economy was dominated by sugar production up. Since then, manufacturing has surpassed agriculture as the primary sector of economic activity and income; composing almost half (about 46%) of the gross domestic product (GDP) of the island. The leading industries include pharmaceuticals, electronics, textiles, petrochemicals, processed foods, clothing and textiles. Followed by the service industry: finance, insurance, real estate, and tourism.

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Source: The World Factbook - Puerto Rico