José Adrián Trujillo

José Adrián Trujillo

Dominican Immigrants|Dominican Veterans|Dominicans in Politics|Dominicans in the United States|Rafael Leónidas Trujillo|World War II

CUNY Dominican Studies Institute

Archivo General de la Nación, Dominican Republic and the Flagler County Historical Society

1925-1946

Edward De Jesús, Principal Investigator / Curator

Ruth Lizardi, Coordinator / Assistant Curator

Dr. Ramona Hernández, Director, CUNY DSI & Professor of Sociology, The City College of New York

Anthony Stevens-Acevedo, Assistant Director

Idilio Gracia Peña, Chief Archivist

Sarah Aponte, Chief Librarian

Jessy J. Pérez, Archivist

Jhensen Ortiz, Assistant Librarian

Groana G. Meléndez, Photography Editor

Norma Guzmán and Donald Mounts, Researchers

Dr. Tim Williams, Senior Editor

Mariel Acosta, Katie Duarte, Shaday Fermín, and Anthony Stevens-Acevedo, Editors

John P. Bimbiras, Edward De Jesús, Jhensen Ortiz, Jessy J. Pérez, Sophia Monegro and Natalie A. Studt, Biography Text Writers

Isabelia Herrera, Grant Writer

Javier Pichardo, Graphic Artist

Sponsor: CUNY Dominican Studies Institute

Sponsor: Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership at The City College of New York

Sponsor: Latino Americans: 500 Years - National Endowment for the Humanities

Sponsor: American Library Association

Sponsor: New York City Council

Sponsor: Smithsonian Latino Center

Sponsor: Center for Puerto Rican Studies (Centro)

Sponsor: The Documentary Forum - CCNY Center for Film, Journalism, and Interactive Media

Sponsor: Dominican Students Association

24" x 36" panel

English

José Adrián Trujillo was born Santo Domingo, Dominican republic in 1925; specific date unknown. he was the adopted son of Aníbal Trujillo, brother of dictator Rafael Leonidas Trujillo. He came to the U.S. on May 19, 1943. he attended the New York Military Academy before enlisting in the U.S. Army in August 1944, serving two years as a Private. He was honorably discharged in October 1946, having been awarded the American Theater Campaign and Good Conduct Ribbons.

Driving from New York towards Miami, Trujillo, accompanied by his childhood friend, Louis Todd, stopped to eat at the Green Tile Cafe in Bunnell, Florida. The stop ended tragically for Trujillo. It was shortly before midnight on November 1, 1946. Trujillo was only 20 years old. The Private laid in Cadillac, bleeding out from a fatal gun-shot fired by Deputy Sheriff Miller Robert Teters. Trujillo and his friend were refused service at the "whites only" café. The restaurant owner and waiters had referred to Trujillo and his friends as "Negroes" and had asked them to leave. They all argued. Trujillo and his friend insisted on being served. Deputy Teters was called to the scene. When the deputy arrived, he approached Trujillo who was inside his Cadillac, parked outside of the café. officer Teters claimed that when approached, Trujillo had drawn a pistol and refused to put it away after being asked twice. Deputy Teters then shot Trujillo in the chest, killing him instantly. Teters was later exonerated after a jury ruled that he had fired in self-defense. These Kinds of events were common in the South under the then-prevalent Jim Crow laws. Most local newspapers wrote that Trujillo simply did not understand his status under Jim Crow. However, Dominican and U.S. national newspapers were in an uproar, with headlines reading " Dominican Killed For Negro," "Death Penalty For Color," and "Dominicans in rage."

A month later, after Trujillo's fatal encounter, President Harry S. Truman, concerned with racial discrimination- some suggest in part due to the death of Trujillo-created a national committee to recommend changes to civil rights laws. In 1948, segregation in the military was outlawed, but this was of little significance to General Aníbal Trujillo who committed suicide shortly after suffering a mental breakdown spurred by the news of his son's tragic death in the U.S. Trujillo served honorably in the U.S. military and risked his life to help end prejudice; ironically, he lost his life to the United States' own racial discrimination, while racial discrimination also existed under his uncle's regime in the Dominican Republic.