Jesús Colón (1901-1974) was born in Cayey, Puerto Rico, moving to New York City in 1917. Colón was active in politics as a student, and in 1918 was a co-founder of the first Puerto Rican committee of the Socialist Party in New York. Soon after, he became a founding member and first secretary of the Alianza Obrera Puertorriqueña and of the Ateneo Obrero where he taught courses for workers. Other organizations Colón helped in creating are are Sol Naciente, one of the earliest Hispanic fraternal societies in New York City where he served as director, and La Liga Puertorriqueña e Hispana. Colón worked as a full time labor organizer for the International Workers' Order (IWO) in the 1930s, and was an accomplished writer with numerous news articles, commentary, poetry and short stories to his credit. Colón is credited with beginning the Nuyorican literary movement with the book "A Puerto Rican in New York" (1961).
