Tampa Cigar Workers

Florida Historical Society Harry T. and Harriette V. Moore Award From the founding of Ybor City in 1886 to the dispersal of Tampas Latin population in the years following World War II, Tampas Cigar Workers documents the history of the Cuban, Spanish, and Italian immigrants who created the cigar industry in Tampa and the extraordinary multi-ethnic community that flourished around it. More than 200 photos capture this communitys personalities and way of life while commentary drawn from newspaper accounts, oral histories, and archival documents identifies and explains each photographs historical place and significance. In linking the photographs with historical text, the authors allow the cigar workers to tell their own story, in the language of their day.The rich photographic record around which the book is organized communicates the lives of these workers not only in the workplace but also in their vibrant Ybor City and West Tampa neighborhoods. The book depicts the making of cigars, the work culture, local support for the Cuban War of Independence (1895-1898), unions and strikes, community institutions such as mutual aid clubs, leisure activities, and social practices surrounding courtship, marriage, and death. Highlighting the diversity of the cigar workers community, the authors present an inspiring and deeply moving story of how these immigrants carved out their space in Tampa while struggling to survive economically and defending their ideals and way of life.