Centro Español Clinic At 15th Street And Palm Avenue

Centro Espanol Clinic [La Benefica Espanola]- Ybor Building- at 15th Street And Palm Avenue. 1941. Robertson and Fresh Collection. Courtesy of the University of South Florida Digital Collection

Mutual Aid Societies were born from the need of immigrant workers to pool their resources and gain from the collective power of their association. The ethnic societies could provide a wide variety of services for their members, and several of them developed in Ybor City including Centro Espanol, The Italian Club, Centro Asturiano, Circulo Cubano (Cuban Club), and the short-lived German Club.

Even among cigar workers, there was a divide: a polarization of sorts. The Spanish dominated one factory, and the Cubans another, and there was hatred between the factions. The Spanish dominated the Sanchez Haya factory owned by Ignacio Haya in the 1890s. Haya donated the funds to build and open the Centro Espanol mutual aid society, which limited its members to Spaniards, whether by birth or national inclination. By the turn of the century, membership guidelines were relaxed, and others were invited to join.

Members paid a small amount, typically around 25 cents, every week to belong. The clubs were social hubs where members could gather to discuss the cigar business and politics, play dominoes, watch theater, and receive other benefits, including cooperative medicine as part of the society. It was a socialized medicine program where, for a small additional fee, any member of more than two years had all of their medical needs met for life.

Centro Espanol began its medical program in 1903. This Centro Espanol Clinic (La Clinica Beneificia) opened in 1930. The first floor housed La Epoca Meats and Groceries, where members could shop. It also housed the Junior Optimist Club of Ybor and an office for the Tampa Daily Times and later La Gaceta newspapers. The second floor housed the medical clinic and pharmacy. As Ybor City residents moved out and assimilated with employer-sponsored health insurance, the need for such clinics evaporated.

The 13,000 sq. ft. building was acquired by the ever-expanding campus of the Hillsborough Community College and now houses the Child Development Program and the HCC Dance program and studio.

Centro Español Clinic in Ybor City. 1930 Robertson and Fresh Collection. Courtesy of the University of South Florida Digital Collection