Derrie Perez, EJ Salcines, President Judy Genshaft and Mark Greenberg (l-r) present Santiago Gonzalez Romero with the University of South Florida Seal.

In 2002, the University of South Florida Library System signed an agreement with the Fundación Archivo de Indianos in Spain to exchange information and resources between the two institutions regarding the Spanish immigration to Tampa's Ybor City in the 19th and 20th centuries.

To date, the libraries have worked most closely with the Museo de la Emigracion located in Colombres in the Spanish province of Asturias. Many of Ybor City's Spanish population came from Asturias to work in the rapidly growing cigar industry. These immigrants contributed greatly to the social, political, and cultural fabric of Ybor City through the establishment of the Centro Asturiano, a mutual aid society founded in 1902.

This website is dedicated to describing this mutually beneficial relationship between USF Libraries and Museo de la Emigracion, and the rich and colorful history of Ybor City and West Tampa that made it possible.