Commissioner in the U.S. House of Representatives Iglesias unsuccessfully pushed for legislation to enable Puerto Ricans to elect their own Governor, a concept that did not become law until 1947. He was able to have Puerto Rico included in many New Deal assistance programs, including road construction, the Bankhead-Jones Act that enabled agricultural experimentation, the fight against malaria and the Jones Act exclusion regarding the taxation of shipping between Puerto Rico and other U.S. ports. In Congress, he served on the Insular Affairs, Agriculture, and Labor committees. Personal life Married to Justa Pastora Bocanegra in 1902, he had eight daughters, named America, Liberty, Equality, Justice, Peace, Light, Fraternity and Fidelity, and three sons, including career military officer Edward Iglesias, and the late Manuel Francisco Iglesias, distinguished Air Force Captain and Lead Crew Radar Office of the B-29s during World War II. Death and legacy Iglesias died in office in Washington, D.C. on December 5, 1939 and his body was returned home to Puerto Rico, where it lay in state at the Capitol. Some 200,000 people were said to have filed past the casket and 50,000 are said to have gridlocked the streets of Old San Juan during his funeral. Iglesias's body was interred in a tomb at Santa Maria Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Early in 1943, a Liberty Ship was named for him. See also List of Puerto Ricans List of Hispanic Americans in the United States Congress List of foreign-born United States politicians List of United States Congress members who died in office (1900–49) References Further reading Gonzalo F. Córdova, Santiago Iglesias Pantín, Creator of the Labor Movement in Puerto Rico. Rio Piedras, PR: Editorial Universitaria, 1980. Manuel Mourelle de Lema. Santiago Iglesias Pantín: Un político circunstancial gallego en Puerto Rico. May, 2010. Clarence Senior, Santiago Iglesias: Labor Crusader. Hato Rey, PR: Inter American University Press, 1972. External links "Memorial Services held in the House of Representatives of the United States, together with remarks presented in eulogy of Santiago Iglesias late a resident commissioner from Puerto Rico frontispiece 1941" 1872 births 1939 deaths Burials at Santa María Magdalena de Pazzis Cemetery Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives Members of the Senate of Puerto Rico People from A Coruña Puerto Rican people of Galician descent Resident Commissioners of Puerto Rico Socialist Party (Puerto Rico) politicians Spanish emigrants to Puerto Rico