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The Class and Gender Dimensions of Puerto Rican Migration to Chicago Loyola University Chicago Loyola eCommons Dissertations Theses and Dissertations 1993 The class and gender dimensions of Puerto Rican migration to Chicago Maura I. Toro-Morn Loyola University Chicago Follow this and additional works at: https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss Part of the Sociology Commons Recommended Citation Toro-Morn, Maura I., "The class and gender dimensions of Puerto Rican migration to Chicago" (1993). Dissertations. 3025. https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_diss/3025 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at Loyola eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Loyola eCommons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. Copyright © 1993 Maura I. Toro-Morn LOYOLA UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO THE CLASS AND GENDER DIMENSIONS OF PUERTO RICAN MIGRATION TO CHICAGO A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY AND ANTHROPOLOGY BY MAURA I. TORO-MORN CHICAGO, ILLINOIS MAY, 1993 Copyright, 1993, Maura I. Toro-Morn All rights reserved. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This study would not have been possible without the careful reading, support and guidance of my dissertation advisor, Dr. Judith Wittner, who labor with me through innumerable drafts. I am also grateful to Dr. Peter Whalley and Dr. Maria Canabal for their help and confidence in me. My husband, Dr. Frank Morn, provided the everyday support, love, and excitement about the project to get me though the most difficult parts of completing this work. And far away, there is my mother, Rita Segarra, who is very proud of this achievement. But, I am most grateful to "las mujeres de la communidad puertoriquena" who allowed me to enter their homes to get a more meaningful view and account of their migratory experiences. ii VITA The author, Maura I. Toro-Morn, was born on December 12, 1961 in Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico. She is the daughter of Rita J. Segarra and Gilberto Toro Camacho. She attended elementary school in Cabo Rojo, graduating from Luis Munoz Marin High School in 1979. She holds a Bachelors of Arts in Political Science from Interamerican University (1983), San German, Puerto Rico and a Masters of Arts in Sociology from Illinois State University (1985), Normal, Illinois. She has taught sociology at Illinois State University, Normal, Illinois since 1988. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS • . • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • . • . • • • • • • . ii VITA . iii chapter I. INTRODUCTION . 1 Literature Review .•••.•••••.••.•.• 3 Puerto Rican Migration Literature 3 The Pioneer Migration ••••.•• 4 The Great Migration 10 Gender and Migration Literature 18 Methodology ••••••..••• 24 The Women 30 Theoretical Framework ••••• 31 Women as Strategists 32 Structural Perspective of Migration 34 Overview 39 Notes 43 II. REASONS BRINGING WORKING CLASS WOMEN TO CHICAGO Introduction .•••.•.. 46 The Domestic Workers 51 Married Women 58 Migrant Children •.••••• 65 Single Women 70 Divorced Women 73 Conclusion 77 Notes •••.•• 79 III. REASONS BRINGING EDUCATED WOMEN TO CHICAGO •••.•.•••••.••.•••••. 82 Introduction ..•.••.••....••. 82 The Teacher Recruitment 88 Single Women •....••••.• 92 Married Women .••.•.••.. 99 Divorced Women with Children 101 Conclusion 104 Notes •...• 107 IV. THE FAMILY AND WORK EXPERIENCES OF WORKING CLASS WOMEN 109 Introduction 109 iv Living Arrangements •.•.•••••..••••.•••... 112 Juggling Family and Work •....••.•.••••.•• 117 Child Care . 12 2 Cultural Agents • • • • • • • . • • • . • . • . • • . • 12 8 Marital Problems . • • • • • . • • . • • . • . • . • . 133 Community Struggles ••••••••..•.•.•••..... 142 conclusion ••••••••••.••••••••.•.•.•.••... 144 Notes . • • . • . • • • . • • • • • . • • • • • • . • . • . 14 7 v. THE FAMILY AND WORK EXPERIENCES OF EDUCATED WOMEN . • • • • . • • • • . • • • . • . • • . • • . • • . 14 9 Introduction . 14 9 Living Arrangements •••••....•....•.••.... 151 Balancing Family and Career ..•.••••••••.• 153 Cultural Agents . • • • • • • • • . • . • . • • . • . • . 160 Marital Problems ••.•••.••..•••.•...•..••. 164 Community Activism •••.•.•••••..••.••...•• 166 Conclusion . 172 Notes . • . • • • • . • • . • • . • . • • . • • • . • • . 174 VI. CONCLUSION . 175 Summary of Findings . • • • • . • . • • . • • . • . 176 Gender, Class and Migration ••.•••..••. 176 Family, Work, and Community ...••..•... 183 Identity, Class, and Gender ....•••.•.. 189 Gender and Migration: A Missing Link . 193 Limitations .............................. 195 Suggestions for Further Research ................................ 197 Notes . 200 APPENDIX A. METHODOLOGICAL NOTE •.••••.....•..•...•..• 201 B. INTERVIEW GUIDE •..••..••••.....•..•...... 207 C. RESPONDENTS PROFILE AT THE TIME OF MIGRATION AND INTERVIEW ...•.••........... 210 D. TOWNS AND CITIES WHERE MIGRATION ORIGINATED IN PUERTO RICO •••...•••..•...• 213 REFERENCES • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 215 v CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION This is a study about the migration and settlement of a group of Puerto Rican women to Chicago. It is based on interviews collected in the Puerto Rican community of Chicago. This study enhances our understanding of Puerto Rican migra­ tion to the United States, and in particular to Chicago, because it starts from an otherwise silent and neglected voice in much of the literature, namely Puerto Rican women. When I started this study I wanted to know what compelled women to leave the Island and how they managed the move. I was also intrigued to know how they managed to recreate and maintain family life once in Chicago. What kinds of problems did they face? How did they resolve them? studies of immigrant women have shown that irrespective of the circumstances of their entry, women become wage laborers in their new countrie­ s. For some women, the new jobs in the United States is their first labor market experience. Others simply continue patterns already initiated in their countries of origin. Given this dynamic, a number of questions emerged concerning Puerto Rican women's migration and involvement in Chicago's labor market. Have Puerto Rican women followed the work pattern of other immigrant women? Or have they followed work patterns already initiated in the Island? What have their experiences as wage 2 laborers been like in Chicago? Has their work conflicted with their domestic responsibilities? If so, how do they managed this conflict? In this study I do more than simply add women's experien­ ces as migrants to the existing literature. My objectives are to examine how women of different class backgrounds have entered the migration process and the adaptive strategies they have used in Chicago. By placing women at the center of my analysis I am able to describe their contributions to both family and the community life. I situated this analysis historically, placing the stories of Puerto Rican women migrants and their strategies in a political economy which often constrict choices. My choice of topics and many of the questions I began with were a result of my own family history. Many of the women in my family migrated to the United states, and, although most eventually returned to Puerto Rico, their experiences raise a number of questions about the levels and extent of women's involvement in the migration process. As I turned to the available literature, I found that the experiences of Puerto Rican women were largely missing. I also found that though Chicago is the second largest Puerto Rican community in the United States very little material is available about Puerto Ricans in the city, be that male or female. In the next pages, I selectively review the general literature on Puerto Rican migration and the few studies that concern themselves with 3 Chicago's Puerto Rican community. I pay particular attention to what has been found concerning Puerto Rican women migrants and indicate how this literature informed and shaped the focus of this study. I also review the more recent literature on women's migration which aims to contribute to a gendered understanding of the migration process. Literature Review Puerto Rican Migration Literature The literature reveals that there was some traffic between Puerto Rico and the United States prior to the United states takeover of the island in 1898. 1 But the most sizable movements began after 1898 as the island's political, educa­ tional, and economic systems underwent modifications under the impact of the new colonial power. 2 There is considerable agreement among students of Puerto Rican migration on the first two waves of the migration process: ( 1) the pioneer migration from 1917-1945; (2)the post Word War II migration from 1946-to the late 1960's. Of these two movements, the postwar migration has received considerable attention. In particular, abundant studies have focused on the New York City experience and the problems Puerto Ricans encountered there (see, for example, Mills, Senior, and Goldsen, 1950; Rand, 1958; Handlin, 1959; Fitzpatrick, 1971, 1987). One problem within this literature is that very few studies take gender issues into consideration. Also, lost in the literature on 4 Puerto Rican migration is an understanding of the migration process from the perspective of the migrants. Given that the largest movement took place after World War II, students of Puerto Rican migration offer no consistent periodization
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