Migration
Holyoke’s landscape changed dramatically after industry left the city. The 1968 economic recession on the Island of Puerto Rico resulted in an influx of Puerto Ricans seeking employment in the local tobacco fields. They were drawn to the Connecticut River Valley to plant, tend and harvest tobacco. Today, Holyoke’s population is 41% Latino; of that, 99% are Puerto Rican.
Unlike earlier immigrant groups, which came to Holyoke during periods of expansion, Puerto Ricans migrated to Holyoke when the city’s overall population was decreasing and industrial jobs were harder to find.
