Latinos in Milwaukee (WI) (Images of America)

"I didn't know there were Latinos in Wisconsin" is one of the
more frequently heard comments when visiting outside of the state. In fact, more than 100,000 Latinos live in Milwaukee, and the continued growth of this community is visible in every segment of the city. Milwaukee's Latino community began humbly as a "Colonia Mexicana" in the 1920s, when Mexicans were recruited to work in the city's tanneries. Subsequent waves of workers came from Texas to work in Wisconsin's agricultural fields. In the early 1950s, Puerto Ricans began arriving to the area, and the population doubled in the 1990s.

Joseph A. Rodriguez, Ph.D., is associate professor of history at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and has written extensively about the Latino presence in Wisconsin. Walter Sava, Ph.D., has almost 40 years of community work in the Milwaukee area and is the former executive director of La Casa de Esperanza, United Community Center/Centro de la Comunidad Unida, and Latino Arts, Inc. The authors worked with members of the community, particularly with parents of the Bruce- Guadalupe Community School and elderly members of the Senior Center of the United Community Center, who were enlisted to provide photographs and personal histories to tell the story of Latinos in Milwaukee.