Tampa Cigar Workers

“Ingalls and Pérez combine scholarly research and striking photography to create a history of Tampa’s cigar industry worthy of its subject. The use of original documentation to narrate the photographs sets this book above the usual photographic histories. Tampa Cigar Workers is a must-read for anyone interested in Tampa history.”—Rodney Kite-Powell, Tampa Bay History Center

“Combining powerful images with compelling quotes, Ingalls and Perez capture the extraordinary world the cigar workers created and the imprint it has left on the historical landscape even after its demise.”—Nancy A. Hewitt, emerita professor, Rutgers University

“An inspiring and deeply moving account of how immigrant tobacco workers from Cuba, Spain, and Italy arrived and created communities in the Tampa Bay area . . . accompanied by a remarkable collection of historic photographs of Tampa’s cigar workers.”—Gerald E. Poyo, author of Exile and Revolution: José D. Poyo, Key West, and Cuban Independence

“Tampa cigar workers were people of such strength and vision that their influence on Tampa endures to this day. Read Tampa Cigar Workers to understand why so many native Tampa residents are proud to say they are the descendants of laborers who spent their days handling tobacco leaves—and building a better life for their families and the city.”—Tampa Tribune

“The various images that fill the book and the timely quotes from contemporary sources and reminiscences that bolster these images make this collection a true treasure.”—Florida Historical Quarterly