Portuguese / Azorean ImmigrationProject and Research
by Cameron Barry
Immigration Pattern
Portuguese / Azorean Immigration 1860-1990
0 1,361 4,431
25,735
40,376
77,634 80,276
119,899
9,739 9,76818,274
33,995 35,611
22,586
28,865
32,53129,656
7,512
210,122
209,968
108,775103,976
15,6508,9735,4771,274
0
50000
100000
150000
200000
250000
1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1960 1970 1980 1990
Year
Imm
igra
nts
Azorean
Portuguese
• Between 1890 and 1917, immigration spiked as labor migrants went to the New World.
• Migrants were involved in the whaling and slave trades and commerce with the West Indies involving sugar.
• A Portuguese republican revolution began on October 4th, 1910.
• World War I (the joining of the allies) occurred between 1914 and 1918 and possibly spurred migration.
• The Literacy Test of 1917 required anyone over 16 to be literate.
• 70 percent of the previously admitted were illiterate.
• The Johnson Act of 1921 and the quota system of 1924 drastically limited the number of migrations.
• The Great Depression of 1929 caused many families to move back to the Azores and Portugal, taking their American children with them.
• Only 10,752 Portuguese immigrants entered the US from 1931-1950.
Immigration Pattern, 1917-1950
“And yet they come…”• The 1958 Azorean Refugee Act allowed the arrival of thousands of Azorean
immigrants because of volcanic eruptions.
• The Immigration Act of 1965 abolished the quota system.
• 3000-4000 per year now immigrate steadily.
• Most Azoreans settled in Hawaii as sugar workers, or in California in rural areas where they farmed or operated dairies.
• Azorean-Hawaiians quickly lost their ethnic identity – they tended to inter-marry with other ethnic groups.
• In California, they hired other Portuguese as hands on their farms. The semi-isolated conditions made it easier to preserve their customs.
But where?
Where did they go?
Percentage of Portuguese across US Regions in 2004
Northeast48%
Midwest3%
South11%
West38%
Northeast
Midwest
South
West
Lots in California / Hawaii Most on the East Coast
The Glue of the Community• The one thing that held the Azorean community together is the "Holy Ghost Festa".
• Debatably, this festival is a thanksgiving to the virgin for keeping the volcano from destroying them during the previous year, although everyone will tell you something different.
• Each house in the village has a wee little house, called the House of the Holy Spirit or La Casa do Espiritu Santo. The people of the villages compete against each other to see which village can make their little house the most beautiful. It gets a new coat of paint, and it's filled with beautiful ornate loaves of sweet bread, and people visit the house to pray and make offerings.
• Each community chooses a queen and there is a big procession through the town.
They have a big dinner where they eat Soupas (Portuguese Soup). The cattleman donate a cow, they dress it up and sacrifice it, and they feed everyone with it.
• I remember this from when I was a kid! Tons of fun, and amazing food!
Local Resources• According to mom, there are no real Azorean
organizations in Oregon, because “there are no Azoreans in Oregon!” Apparently I’m the only one!
• However, there are tons of Californian groups, such as:
– Portuguese Chamber of Commerce of California– Portuguese Heritage Society of California (San Jose,
CA)– Portuguese Historical and Cultural Society (Sacramento,
CA)– IDES Supreme Council (Dan Diego, CA)– SES Supreme Council (Hayward, CA)– Portuguese Education Foundation of the Central Valley
(Turlock, CA)– The Luso-American Education Foundation (Dublin, CA)
General Resources
• Lots of other local resources exist, including:
– Catholic CharitiesDennis Keenan, Executive Director, Email: [email protected] Doug Alles, Social Service Director, Email: [email protected] 231 S.E. 12th Ave., Portland, OR 97214 Phone (503)-231-4866, FAX (503)-231-4327 www.catholiccharitiesoregon.org
Serves 132,000 people annually as the professional social service arm of the Archdiocese of Portland. Works to meet the needs of the poor and most vulnerable through 12 programs, five member agencies and numerous grantee agencies located throughout western Oregon.
– Outside In1132 SW 13th AvePortland, OR97205-1703
[email protected] Phone503-223-6837 Fax
A gathering of Azorean people from the Hanford/Tulare area who traveled to Pismo Beach for their Espiritu Santo Festa. Among these are many of my relatives:
The End
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