Valle-Ferrer, Norma 1947-

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Valle-Ferrer, Norma 1947-

PERSONAL:

Born 1947.

ADDRESSES:

Office—University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico.

CAREER:

University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, School of Communications, journalism teacher; Pro Women, director.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Senatorial Medal, 2004.

WRITINGS:

Fiestas de cruz: Tradición y devoción en la comunidad puertorriqueña, Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña (San Juan, Puerto Rico), 1985.

Luisa Capetillo: Historia de una mujer proscrita, Editorial Cultural (Río Piedras, Puerto Rico), 1990, published as Luisa Capetillo, Pioneer Puerto Rican Feminist, Peter Lang (New York, NY), 2006.

SIDELIGHTS:

Norma Valle-Ferrer is a journalist and feminist who serves as a professor in the School of Communications at the University of Puerto Rico in San Juan. In addition, she is director of Pro Women, an organization founded in 1986 and affiliated with the university that focuses on the advancement of women's studies. She also participates in the radio program Agenda of Today, which broadcasts as part of the Chain Radio University of Puerto Rico (WRTU). Valle-Ferrer has served as representative for Puerto Rico to several international events, including the United Nations' conferences of women that were held in Mexico in 1975 and in Beijing in 1995. She is the author of numerous books and academic essays, including Luisa Capetillo: Historia de una mujer proscrita, which was published in its English translation as Luisa Capetillo, Pioneer Puerto Rican Feminist. The book tells the story of feminist organizer Luisa Capetillo who was instrumental in organizing workers in Puerto Rico, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and the United States, stressing the rights of women workers in particular. Writing in the Library Journal, Margaret Heilbrun called Valle-Ferrer's effort an "efficient and well-grounded study of an extraordinary early feminist and labor organizer." A contributor for Reference & Research Book News found the biography to be "an inspiring account of her life and work."