Pilar Barbosa

Pilar Barbosa
Dr. Pilar Barbosa de Rosario
Born	July 4, 1898 Bayamon, Puerto Rico
Died	January 22, 1997 (aged 98) San Juan, Puerto Rico
Nationality	Puerto Rican
Occupation	Historian, educator and political activist
Notes
Her father was Jose Celso Barbosa, also known as the "Father of the Puerto Rican Statehood Movement". .

Dr. Pilar Barbosa de Rosario (July 4, 1898 – January 22, 1997) was an educator, historian and political activist.

Barbosa, born in Bayamón, Puerto Rico, was one of twelve children of Jose Celso Barbosa, also known as the "Father of the Puerto Rican Statehood Movement". Her father was a member of the Puerto Rican Senate from 1917-1921. Barbosa received her primary and secondary education in Bayamon and was exposed to politics at a young age. As a teenager she enjoyed teaching others. After she graduated from high school, she enrolled in the University of Puerto Rico. She was married to José Ezequiel Rosario but lived many decades as a widow.

Barbosa earned her bachelor's degree in Education and then went on to Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts where she earned her Doctorate Degree in History. In 1921, she returned to the island and was offered the position of history professor at the College of Liberal Arts of the University of Puerto Rico, thus becoming the first woman to teach in that institution.

In 1929, she established the Department of History and Social Sciences in her Alma Mater and was its director until 1943. She continued to teach at the university until 1967, the year she retired. Barbosa was also very active in her father's cause and served as political advisor and mentor to many of the politicians who shared her fathers dream, most notably those from the pro-statehood New Progressive Party, including former Resident Commissioner and Governor from 2009 to 2013 Luis Fortuño and former Senate of Puerto Rico President and 2009-2013 Puerto Rico Secretary of State . Her goal for the party was that it become known as the party of statehood and social justice.