“Nuanced and meticulous analysis . . . The first historical study to examine Chicago’s Mexican and Puerto Rican populations in the same frame.” —Journal of Social History

Brown in the Windy City is the first history to examine the migration and settlement of Mexicans and Puerto Ricans in postwar Chicago. Lilia Fernández reveals how the two populations arrived in Chicago in the midst of tremendous social and economic change and, in spite of declining industrial employment and massive urban renewal projects, managed to carve out a geographic and racial place in one of America’s great cities.

Through their experiences in the city’s central neighborhoods over the course of three decades, Fernández demonstrates how Mexicans and Puerto Ricans collectively articulated a distinct racial position in Chicago, one that was flexible and fluid, neither black nor white.

“A rich portrait of neighborhood life.” —Carmen Teresa Whalen, author of From Puerto Rico to Philadelphia

“An essential read.” —Time Out Chicago