Tampa Bay History Center, alongside Spanish nonprofit Fundación Consejo España – EE.UU., celebrated the opening of a new exhibition last Saturday, becoming the first U.S. museum to host this exhibit honoring the cultural impact of Spanish immigration—including how modern Tampa owes a lot to immigrants who started to arrive in our sleeping fishing village in the late-1800s.

“Following the cigar industry from Havana to Key West to Tampa’s Ybor City, the Spaniards, Cubans, and Sicilians who came to Tampa and West Tampa helped to create not only an important industry but a vibrant multicultural city,” Rodney Kite-Powell, director of the Touchton Map Library at the Tampa Bay History Center,” wrote in a press release.

“Invisible Immigrants: Spaniards in the U.S.” toured Spain for five years and shines a spotlight on the Spanish diaspora with numerous displays of artifacts, official forms and photos, allowing attendees to trace their journey from start to finish. Kite was among those to walk special guests—including families whose ancestors appear in the exhibits—through the opening last weekend.

From “Goodbye!” to “Made in the U.S.A,” each section of the exhibit describes the courageous strides Spanish workers and farmers made after leaving their homeland behind to head to the U.S. in search of better lives.

The “Invisible Immigrants” exhibition runs until early August. Tickets to the Tampa Bay History Center in Tampa are $14.95-$18.95.