1. Antonia Pantoja, was a Puerto Rican educator, social worker, feminist, civil rights leader and the founder of ASPIRA, the Puerto Rican Forum, Boricua College and Producir.
12 Facts About Antonia Pantoja
1. 2.
Antonia Pantoja was later able to study at the University of Puerto Rico with the financial help given to her by her wealthy neighbors.
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Antonia Pantoja subsequently won a scholarship to Hunter College in Manhattan, where she graduated with a bachelor's degree in sociology in 1952.
4.
Antonia Pantoja then studied at Columbia University School of Social Work, where she earned her master's degree in 1954.
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In 1957, Antonia Pantoja founded the Puerto Rican Forum, which served as an incubator for organizations and programs promoting economic self-sufficiency.
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In 1961, Antonia Pantoja founded ASPIRA, a non-profit organization that promoted a positive self-image, commitment to community, and education as a value as part of the ASPIRA Process to Puerto Rican and other Latino youth in New York City.
7.
In 1963 Dr Antonia Pantoja directed a project of the Puerto Rican Forum that resulted in the establishment of the Puerto Rican Community Development Project, funded by the federal War on Poverty.
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In 1964, Dr Antonia Pantoja shifted her emphasis from self-help programs to the reformation of the educational system and in 1967 she served on a mayoral committee, convened by the then Mayor of New York City, John Lindsay, that recommended the decentralization of the school system.
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Antonia Pantoja joined the faculty of the San Diego State University's School of Social Work in 1978, where she became the Director of the Undergraduate Program in Social Work.
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In 1972, ASPIRA of New York, under the direction of Dr Mario Anglada and with the support of Dr Antonia Pantoja, filed a civil rights lawsuit in the Federal court demanding that New York City provide classroom instruction in transitional Spanish for struggling Latino students.
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Dr Antonia Pantoja died of cancer in Manhattan, New York on May 24,2002.
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Antonia Pantoja was survived by her longtime partner, Dr Wilhelmina Perry.