Albert L. Myer

Major Albert L. Myer
104th Mayor of Ponce, Puerto Rico
In office
1899–1899
Preceded by Luis Porrata Doria
Succeeded by Pedro Juan Rosaly
Personal details
Nationality American
Occupation soldier
Profession soldier

Major Albert L. Myer (sometimes erroneously spelled "Albert L. Meyer") was Mayor of Ponce, Puerto Rico in 1899.[1] He is best remembered for having filled as interim mayor of Ponce after the forced resignation of popularly elected mayor Luis Porrata Doria. Major Myer was appointed by the first military governor of Puerto Rico, Major General Nelson A. Miles.[2]

Circumstances leading to Myer’s taking office

A devastating hurricane, called San Ciriaco, had hit the southern coast of Puerto Rico on 8 August 1899. A year earlier the United States had invaded the island and installed a military central government based in San Juan. General Nelson A. Miles had been installed by the President of the United States as the first American military governor of the Island, and Francisco Porrata Doria had been elected mayor by the people of Ponce as was the custom for many decades under the former Spanish system.[3]

San Ciriaco, however, proved to be the test of the mayorship of Porrata Doria. As a result of the impact of the hurricane, a number of demonstrations took place around the island to denounce the municipal government’s poor response to the disaster. “The most serious demonstration of tension took place in Ponce, where damage and mortality had been extensive, especially for the poor. A large crowd of several hundred indigent residents gathered to denounce mayor Porrata Doria for not giving the population adequate warning or taking appropriate measures. A detachment of the U.S. Fifth Cavalry broke up the demonstrations, but the mayor was eventually forced to resign.”[4]

At this point the military governor of the Island, General Miles, appointed Major Albert L. Myer, then U.S. military commanding officer for Ponce, as interim mayor of the municipality. Major Myer did not, as intended, perform all the functions of the mayor. Instead he assumed only some of the authority of the municipal government. Despite the mayoral change, however, tensions remained high, with the blame being placed back and forth on various factions.[5]

In 1900, Major Myer was replaced by popularly elected civil mayor Pedro Juan Rosaly.

References

  1. ↑ "Ponce. Puerto Rico Encyclopedia". Archived from the original on 7 July 2012. Retrieved 12 June 2010.
  2. ↑ The Hurricane of San Ciriaco: Disaster, Politics, and Society in Puerto Rico, 1899–1901. Stuart B. Schwartz. Hispanic American Historical Review. Vol 72, No. 3. (1992) Pages 316–317. Duke University Press. Accessed 20 May 2018.
  3. ↑ The Hurricane of San Ciriaco: Disaster, Politics, and Society in Puerto Rico, 1899–1901. By Stuart B. Schwartz. Hispanic American Historical Review. Vol 72, No. 3. (1992) Pages 316–317. Duke University Press.
  4. ↑ The Hurricane of San Ciriaco: Disaster, Politics, and Society in Puerto Rico, 1899–1901. By Stuart B. Schwartz. Hispanic American Historical Review. Vol 72, No. 3. (1992) Pages 316–317. Duke University Press.
  5. ↑ The Hurricane of San Ciriaco: Disaster, Politics, and Society in Puerto Rico, 1899–1901. Stuart B. Schwartz. Hispanic American Historical Review. Vol 72, No. 3. (1992) Pages 316–317. Duke University Press.

See also

Political offices
Preceded by
Luis Porrata Doria		 Mayor of Ponce, Puerto Rico
1899–1899		 Succeeded by
Pedro Juan Rosaly
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