Puerto Ricans in Illinois

Maura Toro-Morn, a professor of sociology at Illinois State University and Director of the Latin American and Latino Studies program, is a coeditor of Immigrant Women Workers in the Neoliberal Age. She also has published essays in the Latino Studies Journal, Centro: Journal of the Center for Puerto Rican Studies, and the Journal of Latino/Latin American Studies.Ivis GarcÍa, an assistant professor of city and metropolitan planning at the University of Utah, was co-chair of the Puerto Rican Agenda Chicago and represents Chicago as board member in the National Puerto Rican Agenda. She has published essays in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health and the Journal of Planning Education and Research, among others.

• Contents1. Introduction2. Island Paradox: Puerto Rico, Puerto Pobre(Rich Port, Poor Port)3. Salimos de AquÍ (We Left This Place): Migration to Illinois4. Family and Work Experiences of Puerto Ricans in Illinois5. Educational Struggles Then and Now6. Puerto Rican Communities in Illinois: From the City to the Prairie and Beyond7. Conclusion: The Paradox of Belonging

An informative, well-documented, and clearly written chronicle of the displacement and resettlement of Puerto Ricans in Illinois, focusing on their community organization and mobilization, social and educational struggles, and cultural and political resilience. Drawing on census data, personal interviews, and ethnographic fieldwork, Puerto Ricans in Illinois makes a noteworthy contribution to Puerto Rican and Latino studies as well as to immigrant and ethnic studies more broadly." - Jorge Duany, author of Puerto Rico: What Everyone Needs to Know"In Puerto Ricans in Illinois, Maura I. Toro-Morn and Ivis Garcia have crafted a detailed, comprehensive and accessible account of Puerto Ricans in Illinois. Through the use of archival collections, aggregate data, interviews and focus groups, and a profound sociological analysis the authors bring to life the history, peculiarities, struggles, and contributions of Illinois’s—and the nation’s—second-largest Latino group. There are no better scholars who could bring us this well-crafted book about the Puerto Rican experiences in Illinois." - Xavier Totti, editor of Centro Journal"Toro-Morn and GarcÍa weave the story of Puerto Ricans into the story of the state, showing us where Puerto Ricans cross paths or join with African Americans, Mexicans, and whites in creating communities in Illinois while also providing a valuable glimpse of Puerto Rican populations in smaller cities and towns. This volume presents a rich analysis of the self-organization of Puerto Ricans in multiple spheres as it documents the shifting contours of Puerto Rican belonging and community in the state. Always present are the reverberations of Puerto Rico’s continued status as a U.S. territory in many aspects of Puerto Rican life in Illinois. A terrific new contribution to the study of Latinx in the Midwest!" - Theresa Ann Delgadillo, author of Latina Lives in Milwaukee