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Global Geopolitics
The Echoes of Empire: Unveiling the Legacy of Dr. Cornelius P. Rhoads in Puerto Rico
History likes to make life hard. Time does in fact scream these stories along, needing reflection and sometimes, accountability. One such story was that of Dr. Cornelius P. Rhoads – whose name now graces Puerto Rico’s annals for the wrong reasons. A letter of infamy and a brouhaha that told us that deep seated imperialist racism and ethical failures ran through the heart of the art world. However, this story about the man is really about Puerto Rico’s struggle inside the United States empire.
The Man Behind the Scandal
Dr. Cornelius P. Rhoads was not your run of the mill physician. The Rockefeller Foundation sponsored Rhoads’ arrival in Puerto Rico in the 1930s to study anemia, a serious health crisis that was very much a part of life there. But his legacy is not medical, but a handwritten letter found in his office.
In this letter, which Rhoads also used to vent his frustrations about the allegedly poor care he was receiving at the White Memorial in California where he worked at the time, he went apoplectic about Puerto Ricans – calling them ‘degenerate’ and claiming he had planned to murder patients. The letter, long debated as crude joke or a true confession, was immediate…
