La Union Marti-Maceo

Related Cities & Topics:

View Full Size

Rebuilt in 1965, La Union Marti-Maceo has a tile mural on the outside wall paying homage to the club’s namesakes.

Photo Credit: Florida Department of State

View Full Size

La Union Marti-Maceo provided social and self-help activities for the black Cubans in Ybor City.

Photo Credit: Hillsborough County Economic Development Department

This historic club can be found at 1226 East 7th Avenue in Tampa.

Ybor City’s second Cuban Club, La Union Marti-Maceo was founded by Afro-Cubans in 1900 and named for liberation leaders José Martí, a white Cuban patriot, and Gen. Antonio Maceo, an Afro-Cuban leader of Cuba’s war for independence who died during the battle.

In early years, the club served Afro-Cubans excluded from other Cuban and Spanish clubs. Black and white cigar makers were initially part of the same mutual aid society, but Florida laws in the 1900s prohibited integrated social clubs and required them to separate. In 1909, the La Union Marti-Maceo constructed its own clubhouse along with a theater and dance hall.

The Marti-Maceo mutual aid society provided social and self-help activities for the black Cubans in Ybor City’s National Historic Landmark District. The one-story club, rebuilt in 1965, has a tile mural on the outside wall paying homage to the club’s namesakes.