The Newberry Library Labor History Seminar

Co-Sponsored by the Chicago and Urbana campuses of the University of Illinois, and the Labor and Working Class History Association

Friday, April 16, from 3:00pm to 5:00pm

Mexicans in Babylon: Race, Class and Politics in Chicago, 1919-1932 Juan Mora-Torres, DePaul University

This working paper explores how the Mexicans' expectation of Chicago as a place of "opportunity" played itself out in the workplace from 1919 to 1932 when the repatriations almost led to the collapse of the Mexican communities in the urban Midwest. It places the Mexican experience in Chicago within the broader history of Mexicans in the U.S. As the last of the immigrant groups to arrive in Chicago in large numbers as of 1965, they did not have roots in the city. Growing from 1,000 in 1919 to 30,000 in 1930, the Mexican presence was small in relation to the total population of the Chicago area. However, their presence was more than a drop, more so for what it revealed about the presence of Mexicans outside of the Southwest and "race making" in the urban north.

Scholl Center seminars present scholars' works-in-progress. All papers are pre-circulated. If you plan to attend, you may receive a paper by contacting Ginger Shulick.

We encourage faculty members to call the seminar to the attention of graduate students.

The full schedule for this and other Scholl Center seminars is available online.

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