One of the most important names in Dominican history is Juan Pablo Duarte, whose status as “father of the nation” was attained when he organized the Trinitario movement that eventually led to the Dominican revolt and independence from Haitian rule in 1844.
But not much is known about his sister Rosa Duarte, an unsung contributor to Dominican independence, who is finally receiving her just due thanks to the research done by the founders of the CUNY Dominican Studies Institute.
In February, during a panel titled “A Legacy of Advocacy: Dominican Women and their Struggle for Representation,” these scholars implored Hostos students to do more research into the contributions of Dominican women in the shaping of the nation’s cultural identity and independence, contributions that have been subject to erasure for decades.
Women like Rosa Duarte, who devoted her life to her brother’s patriotic cause by becoming an active member of the political and military independentist secret society La Trinitaria, but died in exile due to dysentery at 68, and without her body ever being found.
“Later on, in exile (in Venezuela), she preserved her brother’s papers, which included significant information about his leadership,” said Hostos Community College President Cocco De Filippis. “Rosa Duarte must be remembered accordingly as the Mother of the Dominican Republic.”
Rosa Duarte’s contributions toward the Dominican nation are considered by the historians as the “New Testament” of Dominican history.
The CUNY Dominican Studies Institute was founded in 1992 by the Council of Dominican Educators, community activists and academics to address the lack of veritable information on Dominican history in the United States. It is the first university-based research institution in the U.S. focusing on the study of Dominican life outside of the Dominican Republic.
CUNY’s program has centered much of its work on uncovering the importance of blackness and femininity…
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