https://d1y502jg6fpugt.cloudfront.net/42465/archive/files/cdef8027539894b7330ed38c1fd14cd3.pdf?Expires=1784764800&Signature=AZ2U2Ioz0OyQTn9K21d1tSbzkFegCevzZn1ISh-tPkWhBvHh6RmV7f%7EW9lMx2ehGpFR3KJbiE-vkJyOawLvXI32vb5qa8Fu3WoyW2Nf1w-WUUjlaKH%7E41JDLU3L8xwy0iqyYElmCPun1NKcvDTKjqkMmk7dsRd5cSeo63dBr1m8upEYnEvDXoYE4LpgkhYm31KnBY13TN9ij%7EwJeAddpK3btphLlAcJ4vTgEYEmgA2uOoVAit-I8JTOHHMaXay8XB5vffU3x4nuz6eosRm5Cdhy2VEmW9n6m4fg9xneZqs06JC%7E2rrcbY79YOKJlyr%7EL4RAEzGcJdS8xL4kJtOpDpA__&Key-Pair-Id=K6UGZS9ZTDSZM 201e917b6f992ecc94e0fedc90c07997 PDF Text Text THE PORTUGUESE CONTINENTAL UNION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA on the occasion of its Fiftieth Anniversary presents 0 • His Eminence HUMBERTO CARDINAL MEDEIROS, D.D. Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Boston November 1, 1975 �t, HISTORY OF THE PORTUGUESE CONTINENTAL UNION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 50th ANNIVERSARY 1925-1975 "The possible dream" We will have to go back one hundred years, to the times when the first immigrants from the Azores came to the East and West Coast of the United States, to better understand the history of the Society. As any other ethnic group in a strange land, where costumes, religion and language were different and working conditions harsh, our first settlers must have felt from the very beginning the necessity for some kind of association to protect themselves, and to keep them together to preserve their national identity and traditions. The distances and primitive means of transportation and communication of a century ago led each group to start their own local clubs and organizations mostly following the predominance of the group's origins either from Azores, Madeira or the Continent. But as distances became shorter and shorter due to better and faster ways of transportation the groups began to think about the creation of more powerful regional associations and to dream of a possible national organization which would unite and defend the members of the growing Portuguese-American Community. At the arrival of the twentieth century, America was fertile ground for the ideals of brotherhood, peace, love and goodwill, and this promised land received millions of immigrants mainly from Europe, and each ethnic group soon established what was to be called fraternal benefit organizations, to assist their member victims of sickness or other misfortunes. The Portuguese Continental Union of the State of California was founded in Oakland, on January 28, 1917, and in a short period of three years had sixteen subordinate lodges, ten in California, five in Massachusetts and one in Rhode Island. In the summer of 1925, members from the Massachusetts lodges, impatient with the inevitable delay to process claims at the headquarters in California, began a movement for the creation of an independent fraternal organization in the East Coast, and after some preparatory meetings, a group of one hundred fifty men from Plymouth and Cambridge decided to found on November 1, 1925, the Portuguese Continental Union of the United States of America. According to the records and the testimonies of those founders still living, the first times were difficult and troublesome but four years later when it was incorporated on October 1, 1929, the Society already had 794 members and 13 subordinate lodges in the States of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. The first Annual Congress of Delegates took place in Plymouth, Mass., on June 6, 7 and 8, 1930 and immediately at this first meeting the members departed from the restrictive regionalism imposed in 1925 to admit only members from the Continent, and decided to accept all men and women of Portuguese birth or descent regardless of their place of birth. Today the Society admits all people of Portuguese Ancestry and any other nationalities as long as they are related to members of the Portuguese-American Communities by marriage, education or culture, from ages Oto 60, regardless of sex, race, creed or place of birth. The Society has its own Headquarters building in Boston, with a library of Portuguese authors, and three regional offices in Pawtucket, R.I., Ludlow, Mass., and Newark, N.J. It has seventy subordinate Lodges in the largest Portuguese-American Communities where nearly ten thousand members meet in fraternal activities such as social meetings, excursions, outings, dances, Christmas parties, anniversaries, and other cultural, civic, sportive and folkloric festivities. The Society is non-profit and offers its members, who must be holders of a certificate, permanent protection against disability and life insurance, with different plans. Most important, the Society belongs to its members and they alone elect their representatives to make the laws and run the Society's affairs. The Society has legal reserves and is licensed by the States, and must file annual reports with the Insurance Departments. Besides benefits paid directly to its members, in excess of two and a half million dollars since incorporation, insurance in force exceeding seven mfllion and assets of one million and seven hundred thousand dollars, the Society has contributed with thousands of dollars to charitable organizations and cultural programs, including a Scholarship Fund which, since 1%9, has helped 51 students of Portuguese descent with eighteen thousand dollars. The Society is very concerned with the social, cultural and economic status of all members of the Portuguese-American Communities, and in 1957 established a Peter Francisco Award, to honor any person who, outstandingly, contributed to the well-being and cultural elevation of the Portuguese Heritage. Previous recipients of this award have been: John F. Kennedy, 35th President of the United States of America; Basi I Brewer, Editor of the "Standard Times", of New Bedford, Mass.; John Dos Passos, Writer of Portuguese descent; Joseph W. Martin, U.S. Congressman and Speaker of the House; Joao R. Rocha, Editor of "Diario de Notkias", of New Bedford, Mass.; Joseph E. Fernandes, Chairman of the Board of Fernandes Super Markets, Inc., and Founding President of the Portuguese-American Federation; Anibal S. Branco, former Supreme Secretary of the U.P.C., and author of many works published in Portuguese magazines and newspapers. The 8th Peter Francisco Award recipient we honor today, His Eminence Humberto Cardinal Medeiros, Archbishop of Boston, is presently, by His position and, above all, by His dedication to mankind and His endeavor for perfection, the most prominent and illustrious member of Portuguese Ancestry in the United States and we are indeed grateful to His Eminence for accepting the Award. We, members of the Portuguese Continental Union of the United States of America, are very proud of our Society, but we feel the possibilities and capabilities of the Society to help the members of the Portuguese-American Communities have only been surfaced, and much more should be done. Through PROTECTION we can give the thousands and thousands of members in our Community without any other insurance but the one provided by their employers, permanent protection explained in both English and Portuguese, at competitive cost because of our non-profit status. Through FRATERNALISM, we can offer economic and beneficent aid to those in need, and all kinds of social and cultural programs for everyone to participate. ~ Through UNITY and because we are already local, state and nationally organized, we are in a position to contribute significantly to the realization of our old settlers' dream of a nationwide organization capable of defending, elevate and protect efficiently the members of our ethnic groups. We are ready to join and work with all existing Portuguese-American organizations. We offer all we have built in fifty years plus the cooperation and willingness of hundreds of directors and thousands of members in our local Lodges who believe in the high ideals of fraternalism - Brotherhood - Peace - Love - Goodwill. "The dream is possible". Francisco J. Mendon~a Supreme Secretary • �cp!log!lam * CHAIRMAN Joseph E. Fernandes NATIONAL ANTHEMS United States of America Portugal Jeff Stoughton Music INVOCATION Monsignor Luis G. Mendon~a CDinne!l DOCUMENTARY Fl LM, about Peter Francisco MASTER OF CEREMONIES Attorney Edmund Dinis GREETINGS, City of Boston Mayor Kevin H. White GREETINGS, Society of the Descendents of Peter Francisco John W. Francisco . REMARKS Senator Edward M. Kennedy Senior Senator from Massachusetts REMARKS Dr. Joao Hall Themido Ambassador of Portugal PRESENTATION of the Peter Francisco Award by Supreme President RESPONSE Antonio J. Pereira His Eminence HUMBERTO CARDINAL MEDEIROS, D.D. BENEDICTION * OTHER HEADTABLE GUESTS Dr. and Mrs. Antonio Carvalho de Faria Portuguese Consul of Boston Mr. Victor F. Fanikos, representing the Massachusetts Insurance Commissioner Mr. and Mrs. Joao R. Rocha, recipient of the 5th Peter Francisco Award * COMMITTEE FOR PRESENTATION of the 8th PETER FRANCISCO AWARD Chairman Joseph E. Fernandes Co-Chairman Ant6nio J. Pereira Secretary Francisco J. Mendon<;:a Members : Manuel V. Morais Architect Albert Costa, Jr. Alfred Cross * DANCING FOR YOUR PLEASURE Immediately following Presentation Award to His Eminence * * Independence Ballroom - Sheraton-Boston Hotel �PETER FRANCISCO In 1765 Peter Francisco, at the age of five, was left upon the wharf at City Point, now Hopewell, Virginia, friendless and alone . The ship which brought him to America immediately set sail and was never heard of again. Sailors and dock hands found that Peter understood a few words of English and could only speak Portuguese. The boy knew his name was Peter Francisco, that he had been separated from his parents, and that the men on the ship had left him on the wharf . In the fall of 1776, at sixteen years of age, Francisco joined the Tenth Virginia Regiment of continental troops. He was 6'6" tall and weighed 260 pounds , with black eyes and black hair, and was exceedingly muscular and strong . He first saw action on September 11, 1777 at Brandywine, Pennsylvania . It was here at Sandy Hollow that Francisco met for the first time General Lafayette . Both men were wounded in this battle and became good friends during their convalescence . This friendship was to endure the rest of their lives . In 1824, long after the Revolution, when Lafayette visited America, Francisco accompanied the Marquis on his triumphant tour through Virginia. On March 15, 1781, the American and British collided in one of the bloodiest battles of the Revolution. This was at Guilford Courthouse, Greensboro, North Carolina . On this day, it was reported by Benson J. Lossing, the historian and early authority on the Revolution, how Peter Francisco slew eleven British soldiers before he himself was critically wounded. Finally a British guardsman pinned Francisco's leg to his horse with a bayonet. The steel entered his leg just above the knee, ~U.ced deep almost to the bone and ripped upward. Nearly unhorsed by the shock, doubled with pain, Francisco whee:lEiil, out of action, clung to his mount in desperation, and then, losing consciousness, tumbled from the saddle ·' '*~olfapsed on the battleground. He was left for dead but was discovered by a Quaker, given aid, and recov ·.,,, Getitia -~•athanael Greene expressed his admiration by having a handsome razor case especially made for him on which.iWas'inscribed: " Peter Francisco , New Store, Buckingham County, Va. A tribute to his moral worth and valor. Fromi'f'Ttef comrade in Arms Nathanael Greene ." The razor case still exists , preserved in a room with other mementos in the museum at the National Military Park, Greensboro, North Carolina. General Nathanael Greene was a resident of the state of Rhode Island and Providence plantations . His portrait hangs in the waiting room of the Governor's office at the Rhode Island State Capital, Providence, Rhode Island . During the last six years of his life, Peter Francisco served as sergeant-at-arms of the Virginia House of Delegates. On December 16, 1831 , Peter Francisco died in Richmond . The House adjourned in respect and joined with the Senate, the governor and City Council in attend ing the fune ral. The Virg inia legislature prepared a resolution of regret. The services were conducted in the hall of the House of Delegates by Bishop Channing Moore, and Francisco was buried with honors in Shockoe Hill Cemetery, Richmond , V irginia. � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Dimas Espinola Collection [1923-2009] Description An account of the resource These items, collected over time by Dimas Espinola, detail the Portuguese community in Lowell from the 1920s through the 2000s. Items include Holy Ghost Society documents, newspaper articles, photographs, and event posters. Biographical Note Born on the Azorean island of Terceira, in the village of Biscoitos, in 1950; Dimas Espinola immigrated with his family to the United States in the late 1960s, settling in Lowell’s “Back Central” (predominately Portuguese) neighborhood; his father, formerly a furniture maker in Biscoitos, obtained a job as a loom fixer in the Wannalancit Mills; his mother worked in a shoe factory; Mr. Espinola received his formal education in schools on Terceira and, upon arriving in Lowell, he secured a work permit and, at nearly 17 years of age, he was employed in a manufacturing job in the Paris shoe factory on Bridge Street; at the same time Mr. Espinola, a communicant at St. Anthony’s Church, began working closely with the pastor, Rev. John F. deSilva; among his activities was translating English for Portuguese members of the community, which included various issues affecting the neighborhood, including a state proposed extension of the Lowell Connector highway that threatened many homes and businesses in the “Back Central” neighborhood; in addition to his community activism and work with the church, Mr. Espinola also became involved with the Portuguese-American Center (and its soccer team), as well as the Holy Ghost Society; he remained in the shoe industry for many years, becoming a foreman and factory manager. Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted: This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. In addition, no permission is required from the rights-holder(s) for educational uses. For other uses, you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). No Copyright - United States: The organization that has made the Item available believes that the Item is in the Public Domain under the laws of the United States, but a determination was not made as to its copyright status under the copyright laws of other countries. Language A language of the resource English Portuguese Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1923-2009 Subject The topic of the resource Catholic Church--Societies, etc. Music--Portuguese influences Wedding photography Wedding attendants Portuguese American women United States. Navy. First Confession and Communion Immigrants--Cultural Assimilation--United States United States. Army. Fasts and Feasts Dictators Mills and mill-work Processions, Religious--Catholic Church Veterans United States. Navy. Basketball teams World War, 1939-1945 Nuns Altars Azorean Americans Musicians Musical theater Motion pictures, Portuguese Easter Attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, 1941 World War, 1939-1945--Women Crocheting Victory in Europe Day, 1945 World War, 1939-1945--United States--Medals World War, 1939-1945--United States--Prisoners and prisons United States. Army. Women's Army Corps. United States. Air force. United States. Marine Corps. Catholic Church--Dioceses Mother's Day Ambassadors Consuls Priests Military religious orders Community organization House painters Real estate agents Financial institutions Seventh-Day Adventists Bullfights Automobile insurance Television stations Tax returns Fourth of July Soccer Sexual harassment of men Mental health Radio broadcasting Fasts and Feasts Politicians Politics and government Community activists Constitutions Folk dancing, Portuguese Madeirans Portugal--History--Revolution, 1974 Baseball teams Immigrants Christmas New Year Cows Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Lowell (Mass.) New Bedford (Mass.) Danvers (Mass.) Newark (N.J.) Fall River (Mass.) Methuen (Mass.) Cambridge (Mass.) Boston (Mass.) Oakland (Calif.) Attleboro (Mass.) Peabody (Mass.) Taunton (Mass.) Hartford (Conn.) Graciosa (Azores) Somerville (Mass.) Hudson (Mass.) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available UMass Lowell, Center for Lowell History Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource JPEG PDF Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Image Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Items were donated by Dimas Espinola in 2022. Relation A related resource <a href="https://umlportuguesearchives.omeka.net/items/show/34">Dimas Espinola Oral History</a> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Items were donated by Dimas Espinola in 2022. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available UMass Lowell, Center for Lowell History Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted: This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. In addition, no permission is required from the rights-holder(s) for educational uses. For other uses, you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). Title A name given to the resource Peter Francisco Award Event - Humberto Cardinal Medeiros Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1975-11-01 Description An account of the resource The 8th Peter Francisco Award is presented to Humberto Cardinal Medeiros, the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Boston. This event also celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Portuguese Continental Union. Program includes a documentary film about Peter Francisco. Subject The topic of the resource Priests Catholic Church--Dioceses Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Boston (Mass.) Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource PDF Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Anon_Portuguese_123 Portuguese Continental Union of USA