Fighting Fascism in the Factory: The Revolutionary Lives of Women Cigar Workers
Date: Saturday, September 14, 2024
Time: 2–3:30pm
Location: The Wolfsonian–FIU @ 1001 Washington Avenue
At the turn of the 20th century, a wave of leftist, radical, working-class women and men traveled from prerevolutionary Cuba to Florida, turning Ybor City into the global capital of the Cuban cigar industry. In this talk, historian Sarah McNamara tells the story of immigrant and American-born Latinas from this "Cigar City" who organized strikes, marched against fascism, and criticized U.S. foreign policy. To these women, cigar work provided more than a wage—it created a pathway to a more just world. After the talk, stay for a book signing of the author's latest release, Ybor City: Crucible of the Latina South (2023), and visit our installation Smoke Signals: Cigar Cutters and Masculine Values. Copies of the book will be available for purchase in the Design Store + Coffee Bar.
Co-presented with the FIU Cuban Research Institute.
Banner image: Photograph of a woman rolling Cuban tobacco at the Cuesta Rey and Company cigar factory, Ybor City, 1950. Burgert Brothers Collection, University of South Florida Libraries–Tampa Special Collections.
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