02-04-2025
Spanish history on display at new Invisible Immigrants exhibit
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – Tampa is debuting the Invisible Immigrants: Spaniards in the U.S. exhibit at the Tampa Bay History Center, sharing the untold stories of Spanish immigrants who helped shape the city.
The exhibit was curated by New York University Professor James D. Fernandez and Journalist-Filmmaker Luis Argeo, who spent a decade collecting nearly 15,000 records to create the Invisible Immigrants exhibit.
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'It originated in Spain and we're so thrilled to have it here in the history center,' said Rodney Kite-Powell with the Tampa Bay History Center.
The untold stories of Spanish immigrants date back to 1868 in the museum. Photos, videos and artifacts take visitors along a journey through 1945.
'The first taste is, you are overwhelmed by the number of photographs and artifacts that were accumulated by the curators,' Kite-Powell said. 'They really describe the exhibit as walking into a scrapbook.'
Tampa was the chosen destination to debut the exhibit in the U.S. due to the vast population of Spanish immigrants and their impact on the cigar industry.
'That's why so many Latin immigrants came here,' Kite-Powell said. 'Cubans, Spaniards and Sicilians coming here creating Ybor City, West Tampa and making Tampa Cigar City. Some may recognize the name Bob Martinez, former Mayor, former Governor. Well, that's his mother right there and he hadn't even seen that photograph before coming here.
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'This sandwich shop was actually on Central Avenue, Tampa's Black business district,' he added. 'And while most of those businesses were Black-owned, some of them were owned by non-African Americans and this happened to be one that was Chico's.'
Several local families are featured throughout the exhibit, including Anthony Carreño's family.
'My father is right here,' Carreño said. 'These are my paternal grandparents.'
Carreño's family moved from Spain and Sicily between 1904 and 1909, and they have been here ever since.
'My Spanish grandparents lived next door and they never learned English, so I was exposed to Spanish on a daily basis,' he recalled.
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Since the 80s, Carreño has preserved not only his family's history but also the stories of so many Spaniards who came to the United States.
'It means that we were a part of a great story and I'm glad they're honored, but I think we need to remember that every story is important and I think that's the beauty of the project,' Carreño said.
It's an effort to pay homage to those who came before us while educating those as we shape the future.
'Modern Tampa is what it is really because of the presence of the cigar industry and immigrants that came with it,' Carreño said. 'This is Tampa's DNA.'
The Invisible Immigrants exhibit is available through August 1 at the Tampa Bay History Center.
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