Melendes Home

This house was home to the first Mexican migrant family to settle in the city of Waukesha, between 1919-1920. Although day laborers had begun commuting into the city on train, the Melendes family were the first to reside in the city permanently. The neighborhood surrounding their home was already a magnet area for new immigrants throughout the 20th century as Waukesha's industries created a demand for a new labor force. The family home was a starting point for countless new immigrants who rented a room in the Melendes home.

Joseph and Antonia Don Diego Melendes immigrated to Waukesha in 1919, and purchased their home by 1928. They became an anchor point in The Strand neighborhood for hispanic immigrants looking to build a life in the city of Waukesha.

Five of nine Melendes siblings, including Joseph, immigrated to Waukesha during the early 20th Century. Joseph and his brother Primitivo (Primo) had migrated to the midwest, working as day laborers laying sewer pipe for Moore Sieg Construction Co. in Iowa. Antonia and Joseph met and were married in Clinton, Iowa, later moving their young family to Minnesota before Joseph found work in Milwaukee and relocated the family briefly to the South Side. By 1919 the Joseph, Antonia, and their children Leonard (Pro), Alex, and Carmen moved to Waukesha and settled in this home, 1105 The Strand. Their youngest son David was the first Wisconsinite of the family, joining in 1936.

Joseph was a founding member of the Sociedad Mutalista Hispano Azteca, a group dedicated to helping new Mexican immigrants transition into their new home. Antonia (Toni) was a matriarch to a growing Hispanic community, as many new arrivals rented a room in the Melendes home as they settled and found work in the city.

Successive generations of the extended Melendes family would touch all aspects of life in the city of Waukesha, especially as community leaders. The alley behind their home was an informal community gathering point, as the Waukesha Freeman wrote "For many Hispanic immigrants, the alley behind The Strand leading to the door of Joseph and Antonia Melendes was a path to new life."

"Illinois, Northern District Naturalization Index, 1840-1950," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GPQ7-9GHN?cc=1838804&wc=M6TM-GZS%3A165545801 : 20 May 2014), M-422 Ladislav to M-460 Dore Wilhelm > image 6979 of 9695; citing NARA microfilm publication M1285 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

Sava, PhD, Walter. Villareal, Anselmo. Latinos in Waukesha. Images of America. Charleston, South Carolina. Arcadia Publishing, 2007.