Plaza Betances

Established in 1968   Plaza Betances is named in honor of nineteenth-century Puerto Rican leader, Dr. Ramón Emeterio Betances. A medical doctor who saved Puerto Rican lives during the 1856 cholera epidemic, Dr. Betances also fought tirelessly for the abolition of slavery, and was a key figure in Puerto Rico’s independence movement. Dr. Betances’ legacy inspired the predominantly working class Puerto Rican and Afro-Caribbean residents of Parcel 19 to resist forces of displacement and Boston’s urban renewal program in the mid-20th century. This led to the founding of Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción (IBA), which developed the affordable housing community, Villa Victoria, at the center of which Plaza Betances sits. The plaza serves as a gathering place for residents and visitors alike, and has long hosted Festival Betances, New England’s longest-running Latino cultural celebration.