YBOR CITY, Fla. — As Tampa celebrates National Hispanic Heritage Month, one Ybor City institution continues to connect families to their history, sometimes in ways they never expected.
For Yvette Lopez, that connection became clear when her mother pulled an old membership book from a box.
Watch report from Chad Mills:
“My mom handed me this and she said, ‘Look at what I found,’” Lopez said. “And this is my grandfather, who unfortunately I never got to meet.”
Her grandfather was a member of Centro Asturiano de Tampa in the 1920s.
For Lopez, who grew up attending events at the club with her mother, the discovery revealed that her family's connection to Centro went back generations before she ever walked through its doors.
A place built around community
Centro Asturiano was part of a network of social organizations that helped immigrants build community in Tampa.
For families working in the city's cigar factories, those organizations could also provide access to medical care.
Lopez's mother, Onelia Martinez, remembers her parents coming to Tampa from Cuba and Key West to work in the cigar factories. Her father belonged to a social club in West Tampa.
Years later, Martinez became a member of Centro Asturiano herself.
“It connects a lot of people together,” Martinez said. “And that's what's nice about a good club, which this is.”
Martinez brought Yvette to Centro. Yvette later brought her own daughters.
That includes Courtney Lopez, who grew up around the club and says it helped her feel connected to her Hispanic heritage.
“Like when I'm here I feel like I belong here,” Courtney said. “I'm allowed to be here. I'm allowed to be my Spanish self here.”
Discovering family history
The connections to Centro extend beyond Yvette's side of the family.
Her husband, Morris Lopez, was born at Centro Asturiano Hospital.
“In the hallway, I was told,” he said.
Their daughter Courtney is still discovering pieces of her family's history.
She said she didn't know that her grandfather had been connected to the club.
Centro's leadership team sees that kind of discovery regularly.
Ansley Blackwell-Wright, the club's director of sales and community relations, said families still reach out looking for relatives who belonged to Centro generations ago.
“How special to be able to help people that might have lost touch with a family member be able to reconnect and find out that their family was really doing something great here in Tampa,” Blackwell-Wright said.
Old records can help make those connections.
For the Lopez family, one of those records was sitting in a box at home.
And now, three generations of the family are carrying that connection forward.
Yvette hopes there will eventually be a fourth.
“I think it'll be exciting when they have their kids that maybe we can add a fourth generation. No pressure.” she said to her daughter, before turning her attention to her mom. “You either. You’ve gotta hang around.”
Share Your Story with Chad
Chad Mills calls Polk County home and has witnessed the area’s growth firsthand. He is focused on sharing stories from his neighbors in Lakeland. You can use the form below to connect with Chad.
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