This 1969 TV episode of “Discovery,” a children’s American TV series produced by ABC News and hosted by Bill Owen and Virginia Gibson, shows daily life and culture in Puerto Rico, highlighting the experience of Ralph, a man who was born there, left the island, and returned. The episode opens in the rural village of Cabo Rojo, with two oxen hauling sugarcane as a man walks beside them (0:10). Workers cut sugarcane with a machete (0:19). Owen stands in front of a supermarket and narrates as the camera follows 45-year old Ralph, an American citizen and veteran, and his daughter Denise as they shop. Piles of garbanzos, toronjas (grapefruit), and platanos (1:53) are shown. The camera zooms out on a map of Puerto Rico (2:23). Christopher Columbus likely first landed there on November 19, 1493, probably at Aguada, Aguadilla, Ponce, Mayaguez, or Cabo Rojo. A statue of St. John the Baptist (3:02), after what Columbus called the island, “San Juan Bautista,” although people ended up calling it Puerto Rico; the indigenous name was Borinquen. The national anthem is “La Borinqueña.” One of the island’s most popular songs, “Lamento Borincano,” plays as narrow alleys are shown (3:35). Owen narrates in front of Old San Juan landmarks: Plaza Juan Ponce de Leon (3:47), La Fortaleza, the governor’s mansion, (4:15), Castillo San Felipe del Moro “El Moro” (4:38), . Gibson stands in front of La Puerta de San Juan, which leads into the city (5:35). Other landmarks inside the city: courtyards, La Plazuela de las Monjas with pigeonholes (6:27), tourists and cars in the streets. The urban side of San Juan is shown: First National City Bank (7:23). Owen narrates in front of the El Señorial housing development in suburban Rio Piedras, Ralph’s home (7:58). Ralph and his family eat dinner; an “FA. Gonzalez” sign outside indicates his family lives there (8:43). Ralph takes sheets of tin off a production line in his job as a journeyman tin pressman and lithographer (9:15); the tin is being used for “Dumbo Frambuesa,” a popular Santo Domingo soda. Ralph flies a single-engine plane to Culebra island, where he was born (9:54). Gibbons narrates in Dewey, Culebra’s town (11:00); Ralph’s sister is a Head Start teacher. Ralph’s brother drills wood for Culebra’s first factory, used to produce rats for biological research (11:41). A jailhouse with American and Puerto Rican flags (12:40). Ralph’s brother’s store, Colonel La Esperanza (12:46). Children approach the counter to buy piraguas, flavored snowballs (13:22). Puerto Rico has been a U.S. commonwealth since 1952; all Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens, although they can’t vote in American elections. A teacher reads in Spanish to schoolchildren (15:07). The Porta Coeli church in San Germán, one of the oldest in the Western Hemisphere (17:29). Cows graze in Cabo Rojo; Owen explains that the unemployment rate is high (18:23). Sugarcane workers cut canes with machetes (18:40) and load it into ox carts; other crops are coffee, pineapple, and tobacco. The film ends with Owen back in front of Ralph’s house and Owen and Gibbons in a sugarcane field. Credits: Transportation provided by United Airlines; Executive Producer Jules Power; Written by Joseph Hurley; Produced by Daniel Wilson; Directed by Jack Ofield; Associate Producers Robert Cosner, Allan B. Schwartz; Production Manager William Hilliker, Jr.; Production Assistant Brenda Hall; Cameraman Max Glenn; Film Editor Michael Weiner; Guitar Music Juan Garcia; Production assistance by Puerto Rico Department of Tourism; in consultation with National Education Association and American Library Association.

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