FEATURE
Tobacco, Trains, and Textiles:
Philadelphia’s Early SpanishSpeaking Enclaves, 1920–1936
Víctor Vázquez is special assistant to
the senior vice president and an
adjunct lecturer in Latin American and
American studies at Temple University.
T
La Milagrosa at its Spring Garden location.
Cover image of La Medalla Milagrosa: Boletin
Mensuel Putlicado por los Padres Misiernos
de S. Vincente de S. Paul . . . (Feb. 1915).
Top: Baldwin Locomotive Works, early 20th
century. Campbell Collection.
he migration of Spanish-speakers to
Philadelphia dates at least to the
19th century, a result of the
commercial ties between the city and
the Spanish-speaking Caribbean and
Latin America. At the start of the
20th century, Spaniards and Cubans
were the largest Hispanic groups in
Philadelphia. Puerto Ricans and
Mexicans followed, with smaller
numbers from South and Central
America, especially from Colombia
and Honduras.
The years between World War I
and World War II were pivotal ones
for Philadelphia’s Latino community,
as immigrants settled into distinct
Spanish-speaking enclaves. By the
1920s, immigration from southern
and eastern Europe came to a
standstill, first due to war restrictions
and then to changes in immigration
laws. This decline opened the way
for more Spanish-speakers to
migrate in the 1920s since the
By Víctor Vázquez
immigration restriction did not apply
to Latin America. Spanish-speakers
found jobs and housing in the
centrally located working-class
neighborhoods of Southwark, Spring
Garden, and Northern Liberties. In
these neighborhoods they mixed with
older ethnic groups. In Southwark
they lived and worked among Italian
immigrants. In Spring Garden they
mingled with the Irish. And in
Northern Liberties, Spanish-speakers
lived and worked alongside Polish
and Eastern European Jewish
immigrants. As skilled workers
moved into other areas of the city,
residential segregation increased. The
majority of the approximately 5,000
Spanish-speakers that lived in
Philadelphia in 1920 lived in the
enclaves of Southwark, Spring
Garden, and Northern Liberties.
As for other ethnic communities,
such as the Poles, Italians, and
African Americans, the growth of
1865: Cubans and Puerto Ricans in Philadelphia jointly organize a local chapter of the Republican Society of Cubans and Puerto Ricans
1877: Spanish-speaking local of the Cigar Makers International Union founded in Philadelphia
12 Pennsylvania LEGACIES November 2003
Tobacco, Trains, and Textiles: Philadelphia’s Early Spanish-Speaking Enclaves, 1920–1936
industries and the availability of
particular employment possibilities
influenced Spanish-speakers’
respective occupational and
residential choices. In the 19th
century, the growth of the sugar and
tobacco trade between Philadelphia
and the Caribbean encouraged
arriving immigrants, hence its ethnic
diversity. African Americans settled
the western portion of Southwark,
which was the basis for W. E. B. Du
Bois’s study The Philadelphia Negro.
In essence, Southwark was a densely
populated area of Philadelphia
characterized by its overwhelmingly
By the middle of the 19th century,
Philadelphia had become important in the
manufacture of tobacco products and
prominent among these early migrants to
Philadelphia were Cuban and Puerto
Rican cigar makers.
tobacco industry, especially in the
Cuban- and Spanish-owned shops in
Southwark. The survey indicated
that of the five cigar-making firms
in the city owned and operated by
Hispanics, two were located in
Southwark.
In the early 1900s, Spanishspeaking immigrants began to create
institutional structures for their
community. The Spanish-American
Fraternal Benevolent Association,
established in 1908 and located at
4th and Pine Streets, became one of
the most important mutual aid
societies for Spanish-speaking
Philadelphia. “La Fraternal” served
as a key support organization, one
that lasted well into the 1960s.
The creation of the Mission of
the Miraculous Medal in 1909 in the
school building of Old St. Mary’s
Catholic Church was another
important organizational
development for Spanish-speakers in
Philadelphia. Located just one block
away from the mutual aid society, at
4th and Spruce Streets, La
Milagrosa provided, for the first time
migration from Cuba and Puerto
poor and working-class population.
Rico, in particular. By the middle of
Bearing some resemblance to the
the 19th century, Philadelphia had
Lower East Side in New York City,
become important in the
Southwark was full of many types of
manufacture of tobacco products
open-air markets.
and prominent among these early
Southwark was also noted for
migrants to Philadelphia were
the many cigar-making industries
Cuban and Puerto Rican cigar
located in the area. The Bayuk
makers. Many cigar makers were
Brothers Tobacco Company, the
involved in the “Cuba Libre”
largest producer of cigars in
movement based in the United
Philadelphia in the early 20th
States in the 1890s and were
century, was located in the
prominent in the movement’s
heart of Southwark.
primary political organization, the
According to a 1923 survey
Partido Revolucionario
on the “Spanish Colony of
Cubano/Cuban Revolutionary Party
Philadelphia,” a notable
(PRC). The PRC’s weekly
portion of the city’s Hispanic
newspaper, Patria, published in New population worked in the
York City, attests to the
role of cigar makers in the
movement. In
Philadelphia, the halfdozen PRC clubs in the
city list many cigar
makers among their
members. A fair number
of the cigar makers,
members of the PRC,
resided in Southwark.
Southwark is one of
the oldest communities in
Philadelphia. The area’s
proximity to the ports on
the Delaware River made
Lipp & Fulweiler Cigar Factory, 6th and Arch Streets, by Benjamin Ridgway Evans,
it a natural haven for
1878.
Vehicles lined up for parade to announce
new lower price for Bayuk cigars, 1933.
Philadelphia Record Photography
Collection.
in Philadelphia, religious
services in Spanish. Marriage
and baptism records for those
first years reflect that cigar
makers were among the early
parishioners of La Milagrosa.
It was evident early on,
however, that the allotted
space was insufficient for the
many parishioners who
traveled from various parts
1892: Philadelphia Cuban and Puerto Rican exiles form six clubs of the Partido Revolucionario Cubano 1893: Cuban revolutionary José Martí in Philadelphia
1898: Spanish-American War, resulting in the annexation of Guam, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Hawaii by the U.S.
November 2003 Pennsylvania LEGACIES
13
Tobacco, Trains, and Textiles: Philadelphia’s Early Spanish-Speaking Enclaves, 1920–1936
Between 1920 and 1960, the stretch of
Marshall Street running north from Spring
Garden to Girard Avenue was a hub of
commercial activity, which attracted many
Spanish-speaking workers.
of the city to marry and baptize
their children in the church.
Representatives of the Spanishspeaking community asked the
Philadelphia Archdiocese for
assistance in securing permanent
quarters for the mission. In 1912,
permanent quarters were acquired in
Spring Garden.
and an increase in the establishment southeastern portion of this area was
Over the next half century
of lodgings for single women.
known as the “tenderloin” because it
Spring Garden and the surrounding
Women worked as clerks and some
had so many meatpacking
neighborhood became the most
ran boardinghouses in the
establishments. The northern and
important enclave for Spanishneighborhood where many of the
eastern sections of Northern
speakers, particularly for Puerto
single men lived.
Liberties were more industrial, with
Ricans. This area lies northwest of
These developments reflected
a concentration of textile factories.
Southwark and was also highly
wartime changes. As men went to
Together with Kensington and Port
industrialized in the last quarter of
Richmond, Northern
the 19th and early 20th
Liberties comprised one of
centuries. Many Spanishthe most industrialized
speaking immigrants,
sections of the city. The
especially Mexicans and
predominant immigrant
later Puerto Ricans, came to
groups in Northern
the Philadelphia area as
Liberties were Poles and
contract laborers for the
Eastern European Jews. For
steel industry, the railroads,
Spanish-speakers, the area
and agriculture. In Spring
cigar-making factories, the
Garden they found work at
Cigar Makers International
the Baldwin Locomotive
Union Local #165, with
Works Company, the
offices at 13th and Spring
centerpiece of the industrial
Garden Streets, and the
area. Baldwin was the
Marshall Street market were
largest manufacturer of
the center of community life.
train engines in the United
Between 1920 and
States at the time. Spanish1960, the stretch of
speaking residents of Spring Peddler’s carts on Marshall Street near Girard, 1940. Philadelphia Record
Marshall Street running
Garden worked at the
Photograph Collection.
north from Spring Garden to
Baldwin Locomotive Works
war or found work in industry,
Girard Avenue was a hub of
most commonly as machinists.
women moved into low-paying white- commercial activity, which attracted
By the mid-1920s La Milagrosa
collar work as clerks and secretaries.
many Spanish-speaking workers.
had developed into a hub of activity
With many Jewish-owned shops, it
for the community. By the end of the The peak year of arrival of Spanishspeaking migrants suggests that labor resembled the Orchard Street area of
decade the chapel had become an
shortages also influenced migration.
the Lower East Side of Manhattan.
important institutional center. The
Eighty-five percent of the SpanishJust like in New York, the area
1920 census records a concentrated
speaking residents of Spring Garden
attracted Spanish-speakers to work
community of Latinos in Spring
in 1920 had arrived in the U.S.
in the nearby cigar and garment
Garden. There was an expansion in
between 1914 and 1919, with 65
factories and consequently to live in
the number of boardinghouses
percent having arrived between 1917 the neighborhood. The core area of
catering to Spanish-surnamed men,
and 1919.
present-day Spanish-speaking
many of whom worked for cigarThe third enclave of SpanishPhiladelphia is still physically
making factories in the immediate
connected to the Marshall Street hub.
vicinity or in local industries such as speakers in Philadelphia was in
Northern Liberties. This area lies
The Spanish-speaking
the Baldwin Locomotive Works or
just north of Southwark and also
neighborhoods of Southwark, Spring
the Pennsylvania Railroad. The
Garden, and Northern Liberties
census data also show an increase in shares part of the Delaware River
developed during difficult times.
women working outside of the home shore. In the early 20th century, the
1905: The Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine declares the U.S. to be the policeman of the Caribbean
1910: 64 Puerto Rican–born Puerto Ricans in Philadelphia
1912: U.S. Marines invade Nicaragua and occupy the country until 1933
14 Pennsylvania LEGACIES November 2003
Tobacco, Trains, and Textiles: Philadelphia’s Early Spanish-Speaking Enclaves, 1920–1936
Between 1919 and 1927,
Philadelphia’s manufacturing
employment declined at twice the
national rate. A survey by the
Bureau of Labor Statistics on the eve
of the stock market crash in 1929
found a 10 percent unemployment
rate in the city. The Great
Depression put further stress on the
city and had a significant impact on
immigration, though the impact on
the migration of Spanish-speakers to
Philadelphia was mixed. The
number of Spaniards in the city
decreased as some left and
immigration laws prevented others
from moving in. For Cubans, Puerto
Ricans, and others, however, the
marriages during the Depression fell
to an all-time low.
Despite the dire conditions,
however, the Spanish-speaking
population of Philadelphia continued
to grow during the Depression. As
the cigar industry in Tampa, Florida,
declined during the 1920s, Cuban
and Puerto Rican cigar makers
migrated to Philadelphia and New
York. In spite of national declines in
the industry, Philadelphia still
offered employment opportunities to
cigar makers until the early 1950s.
Migration of Puerto Ricans from
New York and directly from the
island also increased in the middle of
the 1930s. The Great Depression hit
By the time the United States entered
World War II, the Spanish-speaking
residents of Southwark, Spring Garden,
and Northern Liberties had established
labor and residential patterns that
postwar migrants would follow.
opposite was true. In a survey
sample of more than 300 Spanishsurnamed individuals listed in each
of the Philadelphia city directories
for the years 1930 and 1936, only
one-fourth of those listed in 1930
still resided in Philadelphia in 1936.
The number of people listed without
an occupation in 1936 was almost
double that of 1930. And although
all occupational categories suffered
losses, blue-collar workers were
hardest hit, especially the unskilled
and semiskilled ranks. The fact that
so many of those listed in the 1930
directory did not appear in 1936,
especially among the blue-collar
ranks, attests to the high degree of
mobility of this sector during this
period of economic hardship. Even
La Milagrosa’s records demonstrate
the Depression’s effects on the
Spanish-speaking Catholic
population. The number of
the island of Puerto Rico too and, for
many Puerto Ricans, Philadelphia
looked like a better option. Though
recruitment of Mexican laborers
suffered a decline during the Great
Depression in the Philadelphia area,
agricultural workers continued to be
brought into the region.
Consequently, the three enclaves of
Southwark, Spring Garden, and
Northern Liberties continued to
grow, in large part because of the
increase of the Spanish-speaking
population. Gradually, Cubans and
Puerto Ricans became the dominant
groups among the Spanish-speakers,
with Puerto Ricans overtaking the
former after 1945.
By the time the United States
entered World War II, the Spanishspeaking residents of Southwark,
Spring Garden, and Northern
Liberties had established labor and
residential patterns that postwar
1914: Panama Canal opens
1917: Jones Act “awards” U.S. citizenship to Puerto Ricans
migrants would follow. These
enclaves set the stage for the
creation of a Puerto Rican
community in Philadelphia.
Explorations of the connections
between these pioneer migrants and
those Puerto Ricans who came
during the post–World War II “Great
Migration” have been largely
ignored. There is still much research
to be done with respect to the
history of Spanish-speakers in
Philadelphia, particularly the
pioneer immigrants who paved the
way for the mid-century diasporas.
It was these pioneers who arrived in
northern cities before the Second
World War who were in large
measure responsible for the
establishment, in their initial form,
of the housing patterns and support
institutions that later migrants
found upon their arrival. A review of
government documents and archival
collections produced during the late
1940s and early 1950s, as well as
information extracted from oral
history projects conducted in the
1970s and 1980s, suggests that the
study of the early formation of
Spanish-speaking enclaves in
Philadelphia will produce an even
more diverse picture of the city’s
rich ethnic history.t
Sources for this article include: Víctor Vázquez,
“Puerto Ricans in Philadelphia: Origins of a
Community, 1910–1945 (Ph.D. diss., Temple
University, 2002); Virginia Sanchez-Korrol, From
Colonia to Community: A History of Puerto Ricans in
New York City, 1917–1948 (Westport, CT, 1984);
Sam Bass Warner Jr., The Private City: Philadelphia
in Three Periods of Its Growth, 2nd ed. (Philadelphia,
1987); Caroline Golab, Immigrant Destinations
(Philadelphia, 1977); José Hernández Álvarez, “The
Movement and Settlement of Puerto Rican Migrants
within the United States, 1950–1960,”
International Migration Review 2 (1968): 40–51;
Centro de Estudios Puertorriqueños, Sources for the
Study of Puerto Rican Migration (New York, 1986);
Father Antonio Casulleras, C.M., First Annual Report
of the Spanish-American Colony (Philadelphia,
1910), in Philadelphia Archdiocese Archives
Pamphlet Collection; “A Report on the Spanish
Colony in Philadelphia,” Nationalities Services
Center manuscript archive, Temple University
Libraries, Urban Archives; U.S. Federal Census,
1920; Boyd’s Philadelphia City Directory, 1930;
Polk’s Philadelphia City Directory, 1935–36.
1915–1934: U.S. occupies Haiti
1933: FDR announces “Good Neighbor Policy”
November 2003 Pennsylvania LEGACIES
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