The Mexican Experience in Chicago: Early Memories and Echoes in Our Time

Chicagoland's Latino population developed in relation to labor needs in the steel mills, railroad lines and packing houses. First, the Mexican population grew slowly serving as a buffer against African American and striking workers. Many were deported during the Depression; but in spite of continuing deportations, the population grew, as Mexicans and Puerto Ricans arrived in great numbers after World War II. With the 60s, Cubans joined the wave, so that by the 1970s, the city had become a k...