Myrna Vázquez

Myrna Vázquez (1935-1975) was a Puerto Rican screen, stage, radio, and television actress. She later became an influential community activist in Boston's South End.

Early life and career

She was born in Cidra, Puerto Rico, in 1935, one of seven siblings. Sometime around 1945 the family moved to Santurce, San Juan, Puerto Rico. As a child she showed a penchant for the performing arts, using a box for a platform and giving recitals for family and friends. In 1969 she starred in the premiere of "La Pasión según Antigona Pérez" by Luis Rafael Sánchez, who wrote the part specifically for her. She founded the Cooperative Theater Arts (COOPARTE) in the early 1970s, and rescued a theater in Villa Palmeras for use by the organization. The Teatro COOPARTE offered theater arts classes to young people, and organized and hosted the first Festival of Latin American Theater. Vázquez served as its president for over four years. She also worked for some time as a drama teacher for the youth of the San José community in Río Piedras.

Activism

In 1974 her marriage ended. Vázquez moved to Boston in search of employment, leaving two of her sons with her mother and taking the third with her to Boston. According to her son, the move was necessary because Vázquez and Monclova had been blackballed for their support of Puerto Rican independence.

Though Vázquez did not live in Boston for long, she had a lasting influence on the South End community. She was a charismatic activist who helped found the Villa Victoria Center for the Arts, the art component of Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción (IBA Boston), and the annual Puerto Rican Festival. A play written in her honor, Myrna Vázquez: Reconocete by Laura Figueroa and Fátima Seda-Barletta, was presented at the Cultural Center of Cidra in 1979. Artist Antonio Martorell, who had known Vázquez, built some elaborate props for the play, including a marionette.