The interview covers Herman Badillo's education and political career, his experience as Commissioner of Housing and Relocation, view on urban renewal, poverty programs, and the educational system in New York City. An index is available to the interview. Papers: 1 letter (August 4, 1966) in the Mobilization for Youth collection.
His reference to recent Dominican Republic and Mexico immigrants as "pure Indians -- Incas and Mayans who are about, you know, five feet tall with straight hair," and never having a "tradition of education" were widely criticized, and he apologized two days later. In the late 1990s Badillo formally joined the Republican Party.
Badillo resigned from Congress on December 31, 1977, to become deputy mayor of New York City under Mayor Ed Koch, a position he held until September 1979. Badillo was one of seven deputy mayors appointed by Koch for the first portion of his administration.
Although he would later become a vociferous opponent of bilingual education, as a congressman Badillo was one of the first champions of funding for bilingual education programs. Some proponents of bilingual and ESL education, and opponents of English immersion, attacked Badillo for his newfound opposition to Spanish-language teaching.
In 1970 Badillo was elected to the United States House of Representatives from New York's 21st District in the South Bronx, becoming the first Puerto Rican to so serve. He was re-elected for three subsequent consecutive terms. He was also a member of the Committee on Education and Labor.
December 3, 2014Herman Badillo / Date of death
Herman Badillo, the first Congressman born in Puerto Rico to represent a district in the continental United States, was born in Caguas, Puerto Rico on August 21, 1929.
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Thomas Willett, First Mayor of New York.
Badillo arrived in the United States on the cusp of the Great Migration, the postwar movement of Puerto Rican immigrants eager for better job opportunities who relocated to New York City. The beginning of Badillo’s political career coincided with the growing importance and influence of Puerto Ricans in the city.
In the 95th Congress (1977–1979), Badillo retained his seat on Small Business but left the Judiciary Committee and joined the Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs Committee, a post of local importance given New York City’s major financial crisis during the 1970s.
Consistent with his long-standing interest in education, he served as a trustee for the City University of New York (CUNY); Badillo served as vice chairman of the board from 1997 to 1999 and as chairman from 1999 to 2001. 45 Herman Badillo died at the age of 85, on December 3, 2014, in Manhattan, New York.
And in my case it wasn’t my parents and grandparents. It was me.” 1. Herman Badillo was born on August 21, 1929, in Caguas, Puerto Rico. His father, Francisco Badillo, taught in a public school, and his mother, Carmen Rivera, spent her time on charitable activities.
Badillo made headlines early in his first term when the Ways and Means Committee , which made committee assignments, rejected his request to serve on the Education and Labor Committee. Badillo was named to the Agriculture Committee instead, a move he deemed “an insult to those I represent.” 13 The Democratic Study Group formally protested on Badillo’s behalf, while a delegation of New York City Democrats met privately with Speaker Carl Albert of Oklahoma and Ways and Means chairman Wilbur Mills of Arkansas to recommend reversing Badillo’s assignment. In a highly unusual move, the full Democratic Caucus, with Albert’s backing, named Badillo to the Education and Labor Committee. 14 In the 94th Congress (1975–1977), Badillo switched from the Education and Labor Committee to the Judiciary and Small Business Committees. In the 95th Congress (1977–1979), Badillo retained his seat on Small Business but left the Judiciary Committee and joined the Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs Committee, a post of local importance given New York City’s major financial crisis during the 1970s.
In the years after World War II, City College of New York offered free tuition to students with high grades, and the school became known as the Harvard of the Poor. 3 Badillo enrolled in City College in the fall of 1947, majored in business, and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business administration in 1951.
Oral History: 1976, 34 pages. The interview includes reminiscences of Herman Badillo's childhood, education including college and law school. Also covered are his roles as a New York City Commissioner, Department of Housing and Relocation, Bronx Borough President, and United States Congressman. Also includes Herman Badillo's observations on New York City politics in the 1960s and 1970s. Access to the interview is currently closed. A name index is available to the interview.
Herman Badillo was a representative from New York. He was first America’s Puerto Rican congressman and a resident for four decades in City New York who promoted housing and educations reforms, jobs and civil rights. In addition to being elected for four terms in congress, he also was the Bronx borough president, a city commissioner, a counsel to Mayor Rudolph W, Giuliani, a deputy under Mayor Edward I. Koch, trustee, and the board chairman of the City University and a candidate for city comptroller and state.
Badillo was elected to United House of Representatives in 1970, from New York’s 21st District. He was also the member of the Committee on Education and Labor. In 1976, he won the Democratic Party nomination for Congressman of 21st District with 75% of the vote.
Badillo was born on August 21, 1929, in Caguas, Puerto Rico. His father was Francisco Badillo who used to teach in a public school and his mother was Carmen Rivera who spent her time on charitable activities. His grandparents used to live with him.
He married Norma Lit in 1949. They both had a son, David Alan. They divorced in 1960. A year later, in 1961, he married Gail Roberts who was schoolteacher of New York City. Badillo later moved in the US on the cusp of the Great Migration, the postwar movement of immigrants of Puerto Rican impatient for better job opportunities moved to New York City.
Badillo’s aunt, Aurelia Rivera, who had her own two children and his grandfather, raised him for next several years. Aurelia Rivera moved to New York City in 1941 along with one of her sons and Badillo. Her financial problems required young Badillo to move many times in coming years. He first went live with an uncle in Chicago and then to stay with another family member in California.
Herman Badillo holds a press conference announcing that the New York Young Republican Club is endorsing his mayoral candidacy, March 27, 2001, in New York. TINA FINEBERG / AP, file
Falcon, who disagreed with Badillo on a number of issues, wrote, "I helped organize pickets against him, wrote columns disagreeing with him and even led a campaign criticizing his book on education," but then went on to say Badillo invited him to lunch and encouraged him to continue his advocacy work on behalf of the Puerto Rican community.
Badillo, who was born in Caguas, Puerto Rico in 1929 became an orphan by the age of 5 and was eventually sent to live with family in East Harlem.
Before his term in Congress Mr. Badillo was the first Hispanic to become Bronx Borough President. After Congress he eventually became Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the City University of New York -education was one of his biggest causes - and later worked in several law firms.
Herman Badillo, center left, stands in cold, driving rain with Sen. Edward Kennedy on March 22, 1980 at the same place in the South Bronx where President Jimmy Carter stood three years ago and said "Get me a map of the whole area and show me what should be done." Kennedy said Carter had failed to deliver on his promises to the area. AP, file
But Badillo's political ideology did not stay unchanged - he went from liberal Democrat to a Republican conservative who served as education adviser to Republican mayor Rudolph Giuliani. He published a book in 2006 called " One Nation, One Standard: An Ex-Liberal on How Hispanics Can Succeed Like Other Immigrant Groups. " He criticized government programs and bilingual education and said the path to success was self-reliance.
Herman Badillo was a complex man. He broke the mold of Puerto Rican activism and service by playing the pioneering role on so many important issues in politics , education, voting rights and community service. Later in life he changed his position on many of his earliest successes. He soured on bilingual education which was a critical first step in the integration of thousands of Puerto Rican students into the mainstream. He changed political alliances, something not completely uncommon in the world of politics.
At the time Badillo was running for Bronx Borough President. Photo courtesy of David Badillo.
With the congressional testimony of attorney Herman Badillo, Irma Vidal Santaella, the first Puerto Rican female admitted to the bar, and Gilberto Gerena-Valentin, community activist and later New York City Councilman, Senators Robert Kennedy and Jacob Javits pushed through the uniquely Puerto Rican provision of the famous Voting Rights Act.
The 1960 census pegged over 668,000 Puerto Ricans in New York City growing to almost 812,000 in 1970. So securing access to the ballot box for Spanish-dominant Puerto Rican voters was huge. The court victories enforcing Section 4 (e) went further and established full bilingual access to written materials and verbal assistance on Election Day.
Badillo was born in Caguas, a suburban city that is considered part of the metropolitan area surrounding San Juan Puerto Rico, on August 21,1929. His father, Francisco, and his mother, Carmen, died of tuberculosis when he was a small child.
When Badillo arrived in the United States, he didn't know English but that didn't deter him from finding odd jobs to support himself. In his early years in the city, he worked as a cook, a dishwasher, and a pin boy at a bowling alley.
He was admitted to the New York bar in 1955 and passed his certification to become a certified public accountant in 1956. He established his own legal firm in the late 1950s. Badillo has been a maverick politician and a reformer on the very complex and competitive political stage of New York City.
While Badillo broke ground through his election to the U.S. Congress, he has always had his eye on the position of mayor of New York City. He entered the Democratic primaries in 1969, 1973, 1977, 1985, and 1993.
Herman Badillo is a skillful political leader who doesn't hesitate to voice controversial positions that do not always endear him to either the liberal establishment or to his Latino and Puerto Rican constituents. He continues to be as involved in New York City politics as he was 40 years ago.