What: A lecture on the socioeconomic status of the Portuguese in late 19th century New Bedford by Prof. Rose Rodrigues of Fairfield University
Where: Prince Henry Society Reading Room of the Ferreira-Mendes Portuguese-American Archives, located in the Claire T. Carney Library
When: Tuesday, April 27, at 12:30 P.M.

~ The event is free and open to the public ~

The last three decades of the 19th century saw the decline of New Bedford’s whaling industry, the emergence of textile manufacturing and the onset of the first significant wave of Portuguese immigration into the U.S.

In this presentation Dr. Rodrigues explores how this group of new arrivals adapted to their new home and the changes going on around them, showing how the career and home ownership patterns of Portuguese immigrants were influenced by their pre-migration skills and values as well as the occupational opportunities and exclusionary practices they encountered in the area.   Using data collected from the U.S. Census Population Schedules, the logs of whaling voyages, ship registers and textile mill records, she maps out the intergenerational and occupational mobility trends of the New Bedford Portuguese between 1870 and 1900.

Dr. Rose P. Rodrigues is the current Chair of the Department of Sociology & Anthropology and the former Director of Women’s Studies at Fairfield University.