Dublin Core
Title
Leticia Cotto on Maria Colón Sánchez
Subject
Maria Colón Sánchez at Sacred Heart and as a Frog Hollow Community Advocate
Description
Maria Colón Sánchez was a business owner and advocate who came to Hartford at the age of 28. Establishing her storefront in the North End of Hartford on Albany Avenue, Maria quickly became a central member of the community, and her store became a hub for Hartford’s growing Puerto Rican population. A strong community activist, Maria served on the Hartford Board of Education for 16 years and fought tirelessly for bilingual education in Connecticut Public Schools. In 1988, she became the first Latina woman elected to the Connecticut General Assembly. Maria is a beloved figure in the Frog Hollow community and her legacy lives on through the Maria Sánchez Elementary School.
Creator
Trinity College Liberal Arts Action Lab
Publisher
Trinity College Liberal Arts Action Lab
Date
December 3, 2021
Rights
Photo copyright held to Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame
Format
mp4
Language
English and Spanish
Type
Interview
Oral History Item Type Metadata
Interviewer
Catherine Doyle and Emeline Avignon
Interviewee
Leticia Cotto
Transcription
Leticia Cotto on Maria Colón Sánchez:
Catherine [00:11:30] Okay, so similar to our first question, so, you know, could you just give us a quick overview of who Maria Sánchez was and if you had any personal connections with her?
Leticia [00:11:42] o Maria Sánchez was a business owner in the north end of Hartford on Albany Avenue across the street from what is now, what is now? If the...I forgot the name of that school, the Public Safety Academy. It used to be called Quirk Middle. And. That's that's that that's the first thing that comes to mind for me about Maria Sánchez, because that's how I knew Maria Sánchez growing up. But Maria Sánchez was the first person the first Latina elected into the Board of Education in the state of Connecticut or to support the Board of Education here in Hartford. And she she she like Celestino Jimenez. Yes, she like Celestino Jimenez was a very strong advocate for what she wanted for her community, and Maria Sánchez did not let the fact that she was a migrant from Puerto Rico who did not speak a lot of English to stand in the way of what she knew needed to happen for the Puerto Rican community in this city and in the state of Connecticut. That that little new stand that she managed and was owner of in on Albany Avenue is where my father hung out, where my uncle hung out. It's where every time we would end our day after school and on our way home, we would stop to get candy and and just everybody hung out there. It's the space where at the end of the day, when my father came home with a little brown bag filled with candy, we knew that Poppy was hanging out at Maria Sánchez's store. So Maria Sánchez, like Celestino, was, I would say, a whirlwind. A whirlwind for our community. Strong advocate that did not let things stand in the way for her to voice and and elevate issues that needed to be addressed the way the Puerto Rican community in Hartford.
Emeline [00:14:33] And we read that she had involvement with Sacred Heart. Do you know, could you expand a little bit more about that?
Leticia [00:14:49] Yeah, so Sacred Heart Church, I think, was a church that was primarily German in the north end of the city and when a lot of Puerto Ricans migrated to this city, the Diocese of Hartford was trying to figure out like how to support this community right in. For mass and providing them the ability to be able to worship. So I think the first opportunities to hear mass at Sacred Heart Church happened in the basement of that church with the Puerto Rican community, and eventually that church became predominantly Spanish speaking church. And from that church, a lot of a lot of leaders in Puerto Rican leaders came out of that front of that church. And Maria Sánchez, because of the close proximity of Sacred Heart Church to Maria Sánchez and because of the it's the lived experiences that many Puerto Ricans were were having in the north end of Hartford. There was that that that alignment and that connection to the church and also to Maria Sánchez, Maria Sánchez's advocacy and leadership in the community.
Catherine [00:16:16] So I might have missed this small detail, but what was her business that she was a newsstand was a newsstand?
Leticia [00:16:25] But from there it was just a really small space and it was a newsstand. You could buy cigarets, you could buy candy, you could buy Noel ETUs magazines. I know she used to sell those what we call Bottles City bottles, which are the little paperback, small graphic comic strip novels that are in Spanish by Morissette Marcial left when I think is the author. I'm not sure if I'm pronouncing that correctly, but those types of, you know, different magazines and reading materials that were easy to carry.
Emeline [00:17:06] Okay. And you mentioned that she was from Puerto Rico. Do you know when she came to Harvard and if she grew up and found college at all or came when she was older? Maybe.
Leticia [00:17:18] I don't know when she came back from Puerto Rico to Hartford. She did shared an interview that she came because her sister, she came to live with her sister. Mm-Hmm. And I think there's a we we we. We used some footage from an old video that was done. With the city of Hartford on Maria Sánchez, where she shared just a little bit about when she came and how she came. OK. And I think you can find that on, you can find that on YouTube. OK. Which is called Frog Hollow, The Immigrant Migrant Experience, it's like a 20 minute video that some students from Burns Latino Studies Academy put together. And with the Harvard Public Library Park branch.
Catherine [00:18:21] We'll definitely check that out.
Emeline [00:18:22] Yeah, thank you. And how I guess how do you think Maria Sánchez has left her mark and frog hollow? How has your legacy continued?
Leticia [00:18:38] There's a school right across the street where the old branch used to be right, you know? Maria Sánchez School. That's that's a legacy. And also. Every year there's an award ceremony. That CI CD is does the the people who organized the Puerto Rican day parade in Hartford? Mm hmm. They they host the Maria Sánchez awards ceremony where where different people in the community are recognized for what they contribute to the community and are given that award. And it's it's like, you know, many people can get many prestigious awards, but this one? This one, because she's she was humble and Maria Sánchez came, you know, just like, you know, like people from like little biennials or little towns in Puerto Rico that came to the tier to Hartford. And like I said. Made a big impact, more so because of their lagana, because of their desire and their passion, and, you know, I don't have to have this college degree to tell you and or to show you that. This, you know, a block from here, a young man died because a building collapsed on him and and there were no Spanish speaking fire respondents to be able to respond to the many calls that were being received at that time to try and save that kid's life, like Maria Sánchez. I don't need a degree to tell you where to look at look at this and what are you going to do about it? What is the city going to do about it? What is the state going to do about it? And yeah.
Emeline [00:20:43] That's powerful. Yeah.
Catherine [00:11:30] Okay, so similar to our first question, so, you know, could you just give us a quick overview of who Maria Sánchez was and if you had any personal connections with her?
Leticia [00:11:42] o Maria Sánchez was a business owner in the north end of Hartford on Albany Avenue across the street from what is now, what is now? If the...I forgot the name of that school, the Public Safety Academy. It used to be called Quirk Middle. And. That's that's that that's the first thing that comes to mind for me about Maria Sánchez, because that's how I knew Maria Sánchez growing up. But Maria Sánchez was the first person the first Latina elected into the Board of Education in the state of Connecticut or to support the Board of Education here in Hartford. And she she she like Celestino Jimenez. Yes, she like Celestino Jimenez was a very strong advocate for what she wanted for her community, and Maria Sánchez did not let the fact that she was a migrant from Puerto Rico who did not speak a lot of English to stand in the way of what she knew needed to happen for the Puerto Rican community in this city and in the state of Connecticut. That that little new stand that she managed and was owner of in on Albany Avenue is where my father hung out, where my uncle hung out. It's where every time we would end our day after school and on our way home, we would stop to get candy and and just everybody hung out there. It's the space where at the end of the day, when my father came home with a little brown bag filled with candy, we knew that Poppy was hanging out at Maria Sánchez's store. So Maria Sánchez, like Celestino, was, I would say, a whirlwind. A whirlwind for our community. Strong advocate that did not let things stand in the way for her to voice and and elevate issues that needed to be addressed the way the Puerto Rican community in Hartford.
Emeline [00:14:33] And we read that she had involvement with Sacred Heart. Do you know, could you expand a little bit more about that?
Leticia [00:14:49] Yeah, so Sacred Heart Church, I think, was a church that was primarily German in the north end of the city and when a lot of Puerto Ricans migrated to this city, the Diocese of Hartford was trying to figure out like how to support this community right in. For mass and providing them the ability to be able to worship. So I think the first opportunities to hear mass at Sacred Heart Church happened in the basement of that church with the Puerto Rican community, and eventually that church became predominantly Spanish speaking church. And from that church, a lot of a lot of leaders in Puerto Rican leaders came out of that front of that church. And Maria Sánchez, because of the close proximity of Sacred Heart Church to Maria Sánchez and because of the it's the lived experiences that many Puerto Ricans were were having in the north end of Hartford. There was that that that alignment and that connection to the church and also to Maria Sánchez, Maria Sánchez's advocacy and leadership in the community.
Catherine [00:16:16] So I might have missed this small detail, but what was her business that she was a newsstand was a newsstand?
Leticia [00:16:25] But from there it was just a really small space and it was a newsstand. You could buy cigarets, you could buy candy, you could buy Noel ETUs magazines. I know she used to sell those what we call Bottles City bottles, which are the little paperback, small graphic comic strip novels that are in Spanish by Morissette Marcial left when I think is the author. I'm not sure if I'm pronouncing that correctly, but those types of, you know, different magazines and reading materials that were easy to carry.
Emeline [00:17:06] Okay. And you mentioned that she was from Puerto Rico. Do you know when she came to Harvard and if she grew up and found college at all or came when she was older? Maybe.
Leticia [00:17:18] I don't know when she came back from Puerto Rico to Hartford. She did shared an interview that she came because her sister, she came to live with her sister. Mm-Hmm. And I think there's a we we we. We used some footage from an old video that was done. With the city of Hartford on Maria Sánchez, where she shared just a little bit about when she came and how she came. OK. And I think you can find that on, you can find that on YouTube. OK. Which is called Frog Hollow, The Immigrant Migrant Experience, it's like a 20 minute video that some students from Burns Latino Studies Academy put together. And with the Harvard Public Library Park branch.
Catherine [00:18:21] We'll definitely check that out.
Emeline [00:18:22] Yeah, thank you. And how I guess how do you think Maria Sánchez has left her mark and frog hollow? How has your legacy continued?
Leticia [00:18:38] There's a school right across the street where the old branch used to be right, you know? Maria Sánchez School. That's that's a legacy. And also. Every year there's an award ceremony. That CI CD is does the the people who organized the Puerto Rican day parade in Hartford? Mm hmm. They they host the Maria Sánchez awards ceremony where where different people in the community are recognized for what they contribute to the community and are given that award. And it's it's like, you know, many people can get many prestigious awards, but this one? This one, because she's she was humble and Maria Sánchez came, you know, just like, you know, like people from like little biennials or little towns in Puerto Rico that came to the tier to Hartford. And like I said. Made a big impact, more so because of their lagana, because of their desire and their passion, and, you know, I don't have to have this college degree to tell you and or to show you that. This, you know, a block from here, a young man died because a building collapsed on him and and there were no Spanish speaking fire respondents to be able to respond to the many calls that were being received at that time to try and save that kid's life, like Maria Sánchez. I don't need a degree to tell you where to look at look at this and what are you going to do about it? What is the city going to do about it? What is the state going to do about it? And yeah.
Emeline [00:20:43] That's powerful. Yeah.