Opening of Ferreira-Mendes Portuguese American Archives – September 18th, 2009 – Claire T. Carney Library

Ferreira-Mendes Portuguese American ArchivesThe opening celebration of the Ferreira Mendes Portuguese-American Archives will be held on Friday September 18 at 4 p.m at the Claire T. Carney Library. The ribbon cutting will be preceded at 1 p.m. by a colloquium focusing on the influence of Portuguese media which will be held in the Board of Trustees Room in the Foster Administration Building.

The Ferreira Mendes Portuguese-American Archives are named for the pioneer Portuguese-language radio and newspaper personality, Affonso Gil Mendes Ferreira, whose daughter, Otilia Ferreira, is the Archives’ lead benefactor. The Archives house the largest collection of historical material documenting the experience of Portuguese immigrants and their descendants in the United States.

The pre-ribbon cutting colloquium will feature Mr. Pedro Bicudo, director of RTP Açores; Prof. Kimberly DaCosta Holton, associate professor and program director of Portuguese and Lusophone World Studies at Rutgers University; and Prof. Andrea Klimt, associate professor and chair of the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Crime and Justice Studies at UMass Dartmouth.

Mr. Bicudo will deliver a lecture entitled “Portuguese Ethnic-Media: Quest for Survival,” and Professors Holton and Klimt will discuss the book Community, Culture and the Makings of Identity:  Portuguese-Americans Along the Eastern Seaboard, a collection of essays edited by the two and recently published by the Center for Portuguese Studies and Culture.

During the colloquium, Mr. Bicudo will present the Ferreira Mendes Portuguese-American Archives with a collection of television programs he produced for Portuguese Public Television (RTP) about the Portuguese in the U.S.

The colloquium is co-organized by the Ferreira-Mendes Portuguese-American Archives, the Center for Portuguese Studies and Culture and the Claire T. Carney Library.

See full university press release for more details.

See the library’s Ferreira Mendes Portugese-American Archives web page for more information about the archives.