Virginia in Puerto Rico: On the Boat and In the City

On Thursday, 15 August 1940, my dad’s sister, Virginia Troutman, age 24, “bid Miss Liberty ‘Goodbye’ promptly at 5:00 o’clock,” two hours later than scheduled,1 from the deck of the ship SS Borinquen,2 a passenger liner built in the United States in 1931.3 The names on the passenger manifest were mostly Puerto Rican, with the exception of eleven, including Virginia, whose address in San Juan was “Department of Education.”4 Apparently, Puerto Rico’s Department of Education had been recruiting teachers from the United States. But that was not the only factor for Virginia. A former teacher from Winside High School named Ashford lived there with his wife and children and taught in one of the schools.5 He had likely encouraged her to come.

That boat ride was rough. She wrote to her parents that she and her fellow passengers “enjoyed their supper immensely,” but “only a few good sailors held on to theirs.”6 She was not a good sailor. “From then until about two I thought I’d die,” she adds. “Then I went up on the deck hung my head over the rail and let the wind and the rain beat down upon ‘poor sick me.’” She had apparently gotten a recent perm for her hair, for she adds parenthetically, “(You should have seen the new permanent the next day.)”7

After her stomach was sufficiently emptied, she collapsed into a deck chair. Then help came. “The night steward found me . . .” she writes,  “and made me comfortable with pillows, blankets, and ice cold lemonade.” Shortly, other sick passengers began to filter to the deck. She wasn’t able to eat the next day, but by Saturday and Sunday, she was adjusting to the motion of the ship, and food was looking appetizing again.8

On Saturday during a life-saving drill, Virginia learned the difference between first- and  second-class travelers. The former enjoyed access to a “swimming pool, sports deck, tea room, ball room and what not.” As second-class passengers, she and the other teachers were crowded into the back of the ship with no amenities. That was disappointing to learn.9

The ship docked in “the quaint old city”10 of San Juan, Puerto Rico on Sunday, August 19.11 Virginia expressed relief to have solid ground under her feet again, although she still felt the rolling of the ship. She drew a wavy line to illustrate.12

Virginia's first letter home from the Palace Hotel, San Juan, P.R.

The teachers were soon ensconced into rooms in the Palace Hotel where Virginia roomed with Idamay Demmors, age 23, a teacher from Boonton, New Jersey, whom she found to be “very nice.”13 Their room was “huge [with] two large beds, clothes closet, desk an [sic] bath. . . , large balcony windows and no screens. . . . And of course we have huge mosquito nets over our beds.”14 This was a far cry from the farmhouse room she shared with Neville in Nebraska where many families still had outdoor toilets.

The best news was her teaching assignment in the city of Arecibo, population about 13,000, which was a “choice assignment.” She felt relieved to learn that she would not be the only American teacher there. Idamay’s assignment was good, too, but in the mountains.15 Virginia felt a little apprehensive about being the only teacher who didn’t have a four year college degree, but her five years experience must have given her the confidence she needed. 

Envelope of letter to Neville, 22 Aug. 1940, 3 cent stamp.

She and the other teachers spent the first week in San Juan seeing the sites. She notes that American soldiers and sailors stationed there “can be seen most any place and any time of the day.” She adds, “A homesick kid from N.C. took us through the old fort of San Cristobal yesterday.”16 The teachers would leave for their teaching assignments on Friday.

Virginia’s adventures were just beginning.

Appendix

Besides Virginia and Idamay, the other Anglo-American teachers bound for Puerto Rico traveling on the SS Bourinquen from the U. S. included the following17:

Name	Age	City	State	Page
Martin Dubner	23	New York	New York	9
Robert Friend	26	Brooklyn	New York	9
Joseph Kavetsky	22	New York	New York	10
Helen Louise Murphy	22	Natick	Massachusetts	10
Martha Rowinkel	39	Chicago	Illinois	11
Margaret Roeb	27	Butte	Montana	11
Mary Cornelia Roberts	26	St. Louis	Missouri	11
Martha M. Robinson	35	Fall River	Massachusetts	11
Eugene W. Robinson	26	Brockton	Massachusetts	11
Dorothy Marie Soully	21	New Haven	Connecticut	11
Helen Vrabel	24	Bayonne	New Jersey	11
Katherine Sarah Yeagle	25	Kansas City	Missouri	11

Virginia noted that several Puerto Rican teachers from the States were included in their number on the Borinquen,18 but their names are difficult to distinguish from other Puerto Rican passengers since their addresses do not include the designation “Department of Education.”

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1 Virginia Troutman, San Juan, Puerto Rico, to Clint Troutman, letter, 20 August 1940, relates news of her travels to Puerto Rico, the voyage, her living conditions and placement for teaching; Family Letters, CD compiled by Leo Nelsen, Jr.; copy privately held, by Noble [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE] Anderson, Indiana.

2 “Puerto Rico, Passenger and Crew Lists, 1901-1962,” citing Virginia Troutman; digital image Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 27 May 2017).

3 “Borinquen (1931),” Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borinquen_(1931 : accessed 30 May 2017).

4 “Puerto Rico, Passenger and Crew Lists, 1901-1962,” citing Virginia Troutman, 15-19 August 1940; digital image Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 27 May 2017).

5 Virginia Troutman, San Juan, P. R. to Neville Troutman, letter, 22 August 1940, sends birthday greetings, a gift and several postcards, and tells about meeting with Ashford and his family; Family Letters, CD compiled by Leo Nelsen, Jr.; copy privately held, by Noble [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE] Anderson, Indiana. She never mentions a second name for Ashford.

6 Virginia Troutman, San Juan, P. R., to Clint Troutman, letter, 20 August 1940.

7 Ibid.

8 Ibid.

9 Ibid.

[10] Ibid.

11 “Puerto Rico, Passenger and Crew Lists, 1901-1962,” citing Virginia Troutman, 15-19 Aug. 1940, p. 11.

12 Virginia Troutman, San Juan, P. R., to Clint Troutman, letter, 20 August 1940.

13 Ibid. Also, “Puerto Rico, Passenger and Crew Lists, 1901-1962,” citing Idamay Demmors, 15-19 Aug. 1940, p. 9.

14 Virginia Troutman, San Juan, P. R., to Clint Troutman, letter, 20 August 1940.

15 Ibid.

16 Virginia Troutman, San Juan, P. R. to Neville Troutman, letter, 22 August 1940.

17 “Puerto Rico, Passenger and Crew Lists, 1901-1962,” citing names and page numbers noted chart, 15-19 Aug. 1940.

18 Virginia Troutman, San Juan, P. R., to Clint Troutman, letter, 20 August 1940.