[Cross-posted from New Book in Political Science] Michael Innis-Jimenez is the author of Steel Bario: The Great Mexican Migration to South Chicago, 1915-1940 (New York University Press, 2013). Innis-Jimenez is assistant professor in the Department of American Studies at the University of Alabama.

His book explores the lives of Mexican newcomers to Chicago primarily during the Great Depression. He focuses much attention on how community organizations formed to integrate Mexicans into the economic and social life of the neighborhoods of South Chicago.  These hometown associations provided a variety of services to Mexican immigrants and Mexican Americans.

In addition to bringing to life various aspects of this community, the book is filled with incredible photographs, maps, and historical documents. The artwork ads to the richness of the story he tells. But the book also helps to recall an earlier time of immigration and the long struggle of Mexican Americans to be fully accepted into their new homes.