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Mary’s story is one of many that emerge from the artifacts saved in Southeast Chicago’s Museum. Together, these stories and artifacts take us on a journey through the history of the Mexican-American community, one of the oldest in the city.

Why did so many Mexican-Americans settle in this region?

Like other groups, Mexican-Americans came to Southeast Chicago searching for work in the steel mills. When World War I stopped the flow of European immigrants to the United States, steel mill managers looked to Mexico to find new workers.

Many had left Mexico for the United States because of violence linked to the Mexican Revolution and the Cristero Rebellion against the Catholic Church (1910-29). Thousands would arrive in Southeast Chicago.

During the Great Steel Strike of 1919, mill managers and unions pitted different ethnic and racial groups against each other. “Outside” strikebreakers were brought in. The early steel unions were broken. Ethnic and racial tensions ran high.

In the 1920s, some Mexican arrivals were forced to find housing in empty boxcar camps near the steel mills. Local church members supported them by holding masses and social events.

The first Spanish-speaking church in the city was founded in South Chicago. Church members originally met in a used army barrack brought in as a make-shift building. The church was named Our Lady of Guadalupe, as a symbol of Mexican pride and identity.

Church leaders and the community raised money for a new brick church in 1928.

At the beginning of 1929, Father Tort at Our Lady of Guadalupe noticed parishioners praying at the statue of St Jude, the patron saint of desperate cases. The “forgotten apostle” was receiving attention because the steel mills had started laying off workers.

As a result, the church established a national shrine to St. Jude. On October 28, the first night set aside to honor St Jude, there was an overflow crowd. The next day the stock market crashed, and the Great Depression began.

The steel industry was idled during the Great Depression, and many laborers worked only once a week. Some mills made land available to workers, and those who could raised food in gardens. Many lost homes.

As unemployment spread, ethnic discrimination grew worse. A national repatriation movement “encouraged” immigrants to return to Mexico.

The Depression didn’t fully end until World War II. The steel mills were key to wartime production and kicked into high gear. When men started leaving for military service, mill managers again looked for new workers.

During the war, many Southeast Chicago women went to work in the steel mills. One was Pasquala Martinez, the mother of six children.

After World War II, unions helped keep wages strong and work stable. The United States prospered. The Mexican-American community in Southeast Chicago began to thrive.

Economic opportunities for Mexican-Americans expanded. By the 1960s and 70s, Mexican-Americans were moving up to positions of seniority and leadership in the mills and unions.

Just as steelworkers of color were moving into positions of leadership, Chicago’s steel mills suddenly began to close.

The steel mills closed for many reasons. In the early 1980s, an overvalued dollar made it hard for American exports to compete globally. American companies also began to rely upon financial maneuvering instead of manufacturing to make money. And government deregulation made it easier for companies to disinvest.

Although businesses blamed shutdowns on high wages for workers, CEO salaries were skyrocketing in the United States.

The loss of the steel industry and tens of thousands of middle-class jobs was economically devastating for Southeast Chicago. Many people left the region in search of work. The impact would be felt for generations.

Some Mexican-American former steelworkers helped lead the Save Our Jobs Committee and the fight against the illegal actions involved in the shutdown of Wisconsin Steel. Their lawsuits helped win back some of the money owed to workers.

Mexican-American residents of Southeast Chicago have a rich history to remember. In 2018, a Day of the Dead event honored forebears who had worked in the steel mills, even as others honored those who sacrificed their lives in the military.

Today, the realities faced by immigrants and migrants are different, but immigration remains at the core of the American experience. The objects that different groups saved in the Museum over generations show this continuity. Yet, the stories keep changing.

Explore other immigrant and migrant stories by browsing the archive;
or view featured curation “From the Old Country to the New”