Antonia Bonilla de Figueroa

In 1910, 28 year old Black “criada” Antonia Bonilla de Figueroa labored in the home of Catalina de Jesus Delgado (white, 79, widow, does not read or write, rents house, 8 children, 7 living). Situations like these demonstrate how white women also participated in the post abolition “criadas” system. Besides Catalina, Catalina’s 47 year-old, white, single, cane field worker son, Julian de Jesús, also lives in the home along with Catalina’s 11 year-old granddaughter, Pietra de Jesús. An unusual piece of information on Antonia is the fact that she’s been married for a year. There is no information provided on her husband our Antonia’s family life, but it makes one wonder about Antonia’s living situation. Does she live in Catalina’s home or her husband’s? Does she split her time? It is understood that criadas would labor and live in the home of their employers, so it’s interesting to speculate how they might have created intimate ties despite how heavily supervised these women were. This small statement provides a peak into the sort of family life these women might have created for themselves.