Pan-American Exposition

On February 15, 1898, scarcely a month after the Royal Palm opened its doors for a second season, the USS Maine, stationed in Havana harbor ostensibly to protect American interests against the incursion of Spanish colonialists, was blown up and sunk. While historians still debate whether or not the catastrophe was a put-up job, “…

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Indeed, there they were. The war with Spain gave rise to the only moment in U.S. history when cartographers aggressively rejected the logo map. In its place they offered maps of the empire. Publishers, cashing in on empire fever, rushed to put out atlases showcasing the country’s new dimensions. “It does look a little bit odd to see Porto Rico, Haw

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On Palm Sunday 1937, while Albizu languished in prison, the Liberation Army marched in the streets of Ponce. The marchers carried no weapons, but their opponents did: Ponce’s small police force swelled to five times its usual size as more than a hundred officers arrived carrying rifles, gas bombs, revolvers, clubs, and Thompson submachine guns (“to

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At a ball that evening, Florida’s governor, Albert Gilchrist, lauded Flagler yet again, issuing a proclamation that stated, “The building of this great oversea railroad is of nationwide importance, second in importance only to the construction of the Panama Canal.” President William H. Taft sent along a personal note of congratulations. But by this

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