In 2019, and again in 2023, the Center for José Martí Studies Affiliate was awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Institute Grant, which allowed us to host scholars from throughout the United States for month-long residencies at the University of Tampa, to study and research the fascinating history of how Cuban, Spanish and Italian émigré communities in late-19th century Florida created thriving communities and international networks capable of agitating for civil and labor rights domestically, while organizing an armed rebellion in Cuba against the Spanish empire.

The Immigrant Communities of Florida and José Martí in Cuban Independence and the Dawn of the American Century has been able to bring together 59 higher education faculty, 21 visiting faculty, local historians and preservationists for lectures, workshops, archival research, and site visits dedicated to understanding the complex and critical role these communities played in the anti-colonial struggle in Cuba and Puerto Rico from the cigar-manufacturing enclaves of Key West, Ybor City and West Tampa. It was here among them that José Martí, the writer and revolutionary who became the intellectual leader of Cuban independence and the moral conscience of the future nation, found inspiration and his most loyal constituency. He deeply admired the way these first-generation immigrant workers, black and white, established mutual aid societies, founded educational, medical and cultural institutions, published newspapers and books, and brought an astonishing level of civic and geopolitical activism to a forgotten corner of the deep Jim Crow South. We have a lot to learn from their story, and this website is dedicated to preserving and sharing the many extraordinary discoveries that were made during our two Institutes, and that continue to be made by our outstanding alumni in classrooms, academic journals and creative outlets throughout the U.S. and internationally.

In that spirit, all of our recorded lectures, reading lists, and ancillary materials are available through this website, together with teaching modules produced by our institute participants. We hope this valuable material serves as a useful resource for teachers and researchers who wish to incorporate the study of José Martí and/or the immigrant communities of turn-of-the-century Florida into their courses or scholarly research.