THE BIRTH OF MUTUAL AID SOCIETIES IN AMERICA

Inscription

Soon after the founding of Ybor City, Cuban, Spanish, and Italian immigrants established comprehensive health maintenance organizations. For small weekly dues they received medicines, hospitalization, and medical services.
On June 18, 1888, Don Enrique Pendas, a Spaniard, organized El Porvenir. Later came El Centro Espanol, 1891; L'Unione Italiana, 1894; El Circulo Cubano, 1902; El Centro Asturiano, 1902; and La Union Marti Maceo, 1904. This is the oldest example of cooperative social medicine in the United States.
Originally erected by the Ybor City Rotary Club in cooperation with the Tampa Historical Society
Replacement marker funded by the William G. Pomeroy Foundation
Erected by the Hillsborough County Historical Advisory Council 2020