Useful Resources for Further Research
Recommended Scholarship
Bastos, Cristiana. 2018. “Migrants, Inequalities and Social Research in the 1920s: The Story of Two Portuguese Communities in New England.” History and Anthropology 29 (2): 163–83. doi:10.1080/02757206.2017.1359586.
This research article analyzes the aforementioned book by Dr. Donald Taft. Taft’s book argues against the acceptance of Azorean immigrants in the United States, claiming that they were incapable of assimilation. He grounds this argument in racialized pseudoscientific reasoning, asserting that the presence of West African ancestry, attributed to the forced migration of enslaved people to the Azores alongside Portuguese settlers, rendered Azoreans inherently inferior. This secondary analysis of the book helps contextualize the book’s intellectual and political impact.
DaCosta Holton, Kimberly, and Andrea Klimt, eds. Community, culture and the makings of identity: Portuguese-Americans along the Eastern Seaboard. North Dartmouth, Mass: University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, Center for Portuguese Studies and Culture, 2009.
This article analyzes debates surrounding Portuguese minority status in the United States during the 1970s, focusing on the 1973 Portuguese Congress in America and subsequent federal deliberations over racial classification. In the aftermath of the Civil Rights Act and the creation of new anti-discrimination enforcement mechanisms, Portuguese activists sought formal minority recognition, citing persistent marginalization and barriers to social mobility. Although the 1972 Ethnic Heritage Program initially included the Portuguese among protected minority groups, political opposition ultimately removed them from the federally recognized list, arguing that the Portuguese were white and therefore ineligible for minority designation. The article highlights the relationship, and at times tension, between state policy, racial discourse, and migrant self-identification. In doing so, it reinforces the idea that belonging and whiteness are often contradictory and have shifted over time, revealing these categories to be historically contingent rather than fixed.
Knight Wolforth, Sandra. “The Portuguese in America.” Proquest, 1976. https://www.proquest.com/docview/302775909/fulltextPDF/2173ACE4930E4B32PQ/1?%20Theses&accountid=13911&sourcetype=Dissertations%20.
This thesis surveys the history of Portuguese immigration to the United States, distinguishing between different waves of migration and regional settlement patterns, particularly in New England and California. It examines the processes of adaptation and assimilation among Portuguese immigrants, paying particular attention to the discrimination and challenges they faced, especially in the Northeast. The study situates these assimilation strategies within broader social and economic pressures and concludes by considering the implications of the significant post-1965 wave of Portuguese immigration for future integration and community formation. Although somewhat dated, this source provides important historical context for understanding Portuguese immigrant experiences, including patterns of settlement, labor, and community development.
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UMASS Dartmouth: Ferreira-Mendes Portuguese-American Archives