'I Am a Dutchirican': Puerto Ricans in Pennsylvania Dutch Country

Latino USA

Futuro Media and PRX

Society & Culture

4.9 • 3.7K Ratings

🗓️ 16 May 2025

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

After World War II, Puerto Ricans began settling in Pennsylvania Dutch Country, drawn by economic opportunities among Mennonite farming communities. Several generations later, they’re honoring their history and reclaiming their identity as “Dutchiricans” within the Mennonite church—and beyond.

Today, the story of a Dutchirican matriarch —from her family’s migration from Puerto Rico to their adoption of the Mennonite faith— and how spirituality, work, and resilience forged a new cultural identity.

Latino USA is the longest-running news and culture radio program in the U.S., centering Latino stories and hosted by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Maria Hinojosa.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	When I founded Futuro, I imagined a home for journalism with radical transparency.
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0:38.5	And not you buy yes.
0:44.0	Futuro.
0:51.3	If you drive an hour and a half west of Philadelphia, you'll find Pennsylvania Dutch country.
0:59.1	Some 300 years ago, Amish and Mennonite people, known for their plain dress and simple way of life, begin settling right here.
1:09.6	They're still here, and you can see it.
1:12.6	This place, it feels like stepping into an 18th century oil painting
1:17.6	with rolling fields, farmhouses, and horse and buggies.
1:22.6	It's fall, and the cornfields have turned brittle in the cooling temperatures.
1:28.3	It's really out in the middle of nowhere.
1:31.3	Look at all these old cornfields.
1:34.3	Yeah.
1:35.3	It's back to the boonies. They didn't used to be any houses around here.
1:38.3	Oh, it was just fields.
1:40.3	Yeah, it was just fields.
1:41.3	I'm with Ramona Navedo.
1:43.3	She was born in Puerto Rico,
	...

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