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: dkeenan@catholiccharitiesoregon.org Doug Alles, Social Service Director, Email: dsalles@catholiccharitiesoregon.org 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

info@outsidein.org503-535-3800 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