Here is a call for submissions for a special issue of the Florida Historical Quarterly. The special issue, organized by guest editors Simone Delerme and Patricia Silver, centers on “Puerto Rican Experiences in Florida.” The deadline for submissions is August 1, 2023. [Many thanks to Jorge Duany for bringing this item to our attention.]

Description: Florida is home to more people of Puerto Rican birth or heritage than any other U.S. state. Numbering well over 1 million, Puerto Ricans now make up over 20 percent of Florida’s Latino/a/x population, second only to Cuban-Americans in the Sunshine State. The influx of Puerto Ricans to what was once a non-traditional destination of migration has transformed social, cultural, and political life in communities throughout the state.

This special interdisciplinary issue of Florida Historical Quarterly aims to acknowledge and examine Puerto Rican historical and/or contemporary experiences in the State of Florida. We welcome contributions from across the disciplines. In particular, we invite original research submissions that document Puerto Rican experiences in Florida and address topics that may include:

• Puerto Rican settlement and community formation in Florida
• Comparisons of Puerto Rican communities in different parts of Florida
• Degrees of incorporation into social, political, cultural, and/or economic life in different communities
• Comparisons to other Puerto Rican diasporic communities
• Differences within Puerto Rican communities based on race, class and migration histories
• Education and school systems in Florida
• Interactions between Puerto Ricans and other ethnic/racial groups
• Relationships between Puerto Ricans and other Latino/a/x communities
• LGBTQ+ experiences in Puerto Rican communities
• Gender roles, identities, and inequities
• Impacts of natural disasters on migratory patterns and experiences
• Significance of phenotype and/or English language abilities to incorporation and political participation
• Puerto Rican workers in Florida (eg. farming, factories, and the hospitality industry)
• Residential patterns amid Florida’s housing crisis

We also invite poetry, reflections, and other creative expressions that focus on Puerto Rican life in Florida. Manuscripts should be double-spaced and twenty-five to thirty-five pages in length (excluding footnotes, block quotes, or tabular matter).

For guidelines, consult https://cah.ucf.edu/fhq/. Authors should submit an electronic copy in MS Word to guest editors: Simone Delerme, sdelerme@olemiss.edu and Patricia Silver, silver_patricia@yahoo.com.