Asturian-American Migration Forum

Tom Hidalgo has written an article for Goldenseal, "the magazine of West Virginia traditional life," on Spanish coalminers in the southern counties (Logan and Raleigh). These Spaniards came from Andalucia, as well as Galicia and Asturias. A portion of Tom's article and one picture are available at: http://www.wvculture.org/goldenseal/spaniards.html

I'd like to know more about the connections between this diverse Spanish coal mining community, and the Asturianos in northcentral WV who worked primarily in the zinc industry.

I was totally unfamiliar with Spaniards in southern West Virginia. I have heard of other communities but not there. I knew very little until 1999 when I began to prepare for my summer school in Madrid. It was then that I started speaking to just about anyone who would listen. To make a long story short, I was informed of a strong connection between our communities in Clarksburg with the town of Donora, PA. There were big picnics and people from one place would go to visit family and friends in the other. I was also told about connections to New York city including the delayed arrival of the Spanish newspaper here in West Virginia. Other communities I have heard about were Moundsville, WV; Missouri; Ohio; Gary, IN; and Florida. I have family in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Florida and Hawaii.

Pepe,

Yes, I have also head of the communities you mention and have (or had) family in many of them. Many of the towns were involved with zinc production: Moundsville, WV; Donora and Langeloth, PA; Cherryvale, KS; St. Louis, MO for example. Other communities also had strong family links to the zinc communities, like Canton, Ohio and Niagara Falls, NY.

Do you know of the folks in Florida and Gary, IN were also connected to zinc workers, or those zinc communities you mentioned?

I know that Tampa was a site for early Asturian immigrants, and that their community is still fairly large. I haven't been able to make links to this community and the folks following heavy industry though. Perhaps you can help.

I grew up in Fayette county, WV (Oak Hill). While there were a couple of Spanish families in town, the ones I knew of were not from Asturias. Maybe my dad would know of some, though, I'll ask him. The industry in southern West Virginia was coal, coal, and more coal. My grandfather (Asturian) came down to Fayette county (Beard's Fork) with one Spanish buddy from Moundsville to work as electricians in the mines.

Pepe wrote:

To make a long story short, I was informed of a strong connection between our communities in Clarksburg with the town of Donora, PA. There were big picnics and people from one place would go to visit family and friends in the other. I was also told about connections to New York city including the delayed arrival of the Spanish newspaper here in West Virginia. Other communities I have heard about were Moundsville, WV; Missouri; Ohio; Gary, IN; and Florida.

I also did not know about these Spanish Communities until I started researching my family history. I knew my mother was born in Donora, Pennsylvania, but that was all I knew. Through my research I discovered my grandparents first lived in East St. Louis where there was a large Spanish community. My grandparents then moved to Missouri, then Clarksburg WV and eventually to Donora, PA. All of these locations had a large Spanish community. They were also towns that had a foundry. My grandfather worked in a foundry most of his life.

My grandfather had a brother who ran a Spanish grocery store in Gary Indiana, he had another brother who lived in Moundsville WV. He also had two sisters living in Otter Creek Township, Vigo County, Indiana.

My cousins in Moundsville sent me photos of big family picnics in WV. They said everybody from Donora, Moundsville and Clarksburg would meet for a big family reunion and picnic every summer.

It must have been nice to have such close family connections. Now my family is spread all over the United States.

Here is a copy of Tom Hidalgo's article in Goldenseal:
https://tracesofspainintheus.files.word ... rginia.pdf