Why YOU should be interested in the history of Bay Area Azoreans!

When asked why my research matters, of course I would say it’s an important story, as would any Azorean living in California. But to really understand why the story of the Azorean Portuguese in California is a valid story worth looking in to, I think we need to put the story in terms of other stories we have looked at through the quarter.

            The United States is a nation of immigrants, California is alternatively considered a melting pot or salad, and the bay area is a microcosm of California. There are major histories on the experience of the Japanese and Chinese in the bay area, and research into many of the minority groups found within the area, but the stories of the Portuguese are less widely known. Through my research I was surprised to find historical works specifically about the Azoreans in California, but none were well known and none had all the information I sought. The story of Portuguese immigrants is just that—a story of immigrants coming to America and working through the cultural frictions of that move. Similar to how Russell K. Skowronek and Cecilia Tsu’s articles are about specific ethnic groups (Ohlone, Spanish missionaries, and single Chinese men) that can be used to apply to the broader story of the Bay Area and California, the story of Portuguese immigrants can also be used to represent the broader story of the Bay Area and California.

            My research didn’t focus on a specific time period of history, but the biggest wave of Portuguese immigration was 1960-1980s. What my research has shown about this era is that this was a time of increased immigration for everyone, not just specifically the Portuguese. Although, in 1958 and 1960, Congressional acts were passed specifically to alleviate immigration restrictions for refugees of the volcanic activity in the Azores in the late 1950s. Unfortunately, there isn’t much information about these acts, other than the fact that they were passed and commemorated in 2008 on their 50^th anniversary, but really no information into the acts themselves at all or historical perspectives on the acts. Research still needs to be done into this topic, because as it stands now, you would think that the Portuguese were a silent immigrant group that seamlessly transitioned into American culture with little fanfare or disruptions, and that simply cannot be true. As I saw with the Holy Ghost Festas, aspects of Portuguese culture altered Californian and Bay Area culture significant, yet sometimes small, ways.

            The story of Azorean immigrants in the Bay Area is a uniquely Bay Area story because it is a story of immigrants. Our nation is a country of immigrants, and nowhere is that fact more discernable than in the Bay Area. You can meet people from any country imaginable in this area and you can find food from almost any country imaginable. Skowronek’s article talks about cultural syncretism between the Spanish Catholic missionaries and the native pagan Ohlone of the Bay Area, where the Ohlone superficially converted to Catholicism, thereby assimilating to the new dominant culture, but they also retained a lot of their native culture through syncretism. For the Azoreans, many were quick to assimilate into American culture because American culture offered so many conveniences and opportunities for stability. Yet the Azoreans retained many aspects of their culture, such as their work ethic, their agricultural skills, and through their religion, the Holy Ghost Festas. These festas are now a big part of California and the Bay Area, and can be found all over the state. Each festa is centered around the same beliefs and traditions, but each is unique in its own way. In the Central Valley, you can find bloodless bullfights, and in the Bay Area, the focus is more on the tasty treats that come from the kitchen at the community dinners. In the Bay Area, you can also find a Portuguese cultural museum, and in June, a weekend long celebration of the Portuguese culture in the Bay Area. So while many aspects of Azorean culture were changed upon immigration and assimilation, the Azoreans also left their mark on California and the Bay Area, adding to its unique status as a state full of immigration stories.

            There are tons of questions left to be explored, questions that are hard to find historical evidence for. Personally, I wanted more information on superstitions within the Azorean culture, and whether or not these superstitions changed or vanished upon immigration. My grandparents had a lot of funky superstitions and I’ve never been able to find verification of those superstitions or really any information on superstitions within the Azorean community, in the United States or the Azores. I would also like to see more research into the cultural friction experienced by immigrants. None of the books I read or primary sources I consulted focused on immigration issues, but rather focused on the triumphs of immigration. America was the land of opportunity where the American dream was achievable, and that’s how the sources I read portrayed the Azoreans view of America. Azoreans are used to hard work and harsh living conditions from their life in the Azores, so I could see that they would view life in America as a wholly better life and overlook the cultural frictions, but I can’t believe that there were none. In the book about Portuguese women, the girls who immigrated as children did talk about the cultural frictions experienced in school, mainly in the form of teasing and feeling completely lost and alone because of the language divide and lack of close family and friends nearby. I would also like to see more research into possible examples of discrimination against the Azoreans in the Bay Area. I couldn’t really find any information about this, but I’m sure it happened, its just a question of to what degree did the discrimination effect the lives of the Portuguese immigrants.