Olga Mele
Puerto Rican, 1917 - 2003
BiographyOlga Alfaro was born in Guayama, Puerto Rico on March 10, 1917, daughter of Pedro and Ramona Gutierrez Alfaro. In 1940, she married John Mele and in 1941 they moved to Hartford, Connecticut. Olga and John Mele had two children, John Mele Jr. and Lydia Jean Mele. In Connecticut she laid the foundation of pioneering social services for the Puerto Rican community in Hartford. In the 1950s she taught migrant workers from Puerto Rico about nutrition and health services. She also helped them to find housing and jobs, mainly at tobacco farms and factories. She was the co-founder of the San Juan Center and a longtime Community Renewal Team family and job counselor. She worked as a translator and member of the Public Relations Committee at Hartford Hospital advocating to bring doctors and nurses to Hartford. Mele received numerous city, state, and national awards in the 1970s through 1990s for her community work for the Puerto Rican community and beyond. In 1977, she received the Jefferson Award for her community work from the American Institute for Public Service in Washington, D.C. Upon receiving the award she said, “Give and give freely, for I am living proof that in giving you do receive, if not in public recognition, in the joys which come from helping others help themselves... The greatest joy in my life has been to help those who have come with nothing, build something.” In 1980, she received a Special Distinction Award from President Carter at the White House. In 1985, she was awarded the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice Medal from Pope John Paul II for her outstanding contributions to the church and society. In 1989, she was awarded the Fray Bartolomei de Las Casas Award by the Northeast Hispanic Center in New York City. She died on July 20, 2003.
Person TypeIndividual
Mohegan, 1899 - 2005
