[3] The mission of the Ateneo de Ponce is to preserve and promote the culture of the sciences, literature and the arts.

There were 111 co-founding partners led by Ramón Zapata, who was the president of the Atheneum during several terms.

To achieve its objectives the Atheneum organizes a variety of activities such as dissertations, conferences, tournaments, publications, concerts, and various other presentations.

[5] Zapata Acosta is recognized at Ponce's Tricentennial Park for his contributions in the field of literature.

[6] It emerged as a result of the cultural resurgence in the city starting in the 1940s, and accelerated by the physical, demographic, industrial, commercial, and financial development that followed.