Monument honoring Revolutionary War hero Pedro Francisco in New Bedford. Photo by the author.

Signs, symbols and stones (monuments). Today we’ll learn some more about ‘stones:’ some interesting things about military monuments in this urban ethnic landscape. We’re continuing our expedition to learn about a different culture, that of Portuguese Americans, and how aspects of that culture are visible in the landscape of southeastern New England.

What can we learn from military monuments? Above is one in New Bedford that honors Pedro (Peter) Francisco, a hero of the Revolution praised by George Washington. The monument stresses his Portuguese descent. A monument to him has also been installed on the island of Terceira in the Azores where he was born. (We’ll see more about monument ‘pairing’ as these posts go along.)

Names of war dead from Fall River on a monument in Kennedy Park. Photo by the author.

Almost every city and town has a monument(s) honoring the dead from various wars and listing their names. These monuments can incidentally reveal the ethnicity of veterans who fought in various conflicts. For example, a veterans’ monument in Kennedy Park in Fall River honors that city’s soldiers who died in all wars. While it is not specifically a “Portuguese monument” the list of names can be used to show the growth of the city’s Portuguese population over time.

The author’s analysis of ethnic names in all conflicts indicates the percentage of Fall River’s Portuguese American war dead as follows:

Spanish American War, 0%

World War I, 9%

World War II, 26%

Korean War, 29%

Vietnam War, 57%

The percentage of dead in Vietnam, 57%, exceeds the current percentage of the city’s population that reports Portuguese ancestry (46%). Perhaps this reflects socio-economic class in that a larger proportion of Portuguese are less well-off than the general population and were more inclined to enlist or to be drafted, or less likely to gain deferments from the draft for educational or medical reasons.

Note the wording on a monument to veterans in Fall River. Photo by the author.

Both New Bedford and Fall River have monuments honoring those of Portuguese American ancestry who served in World War II. However, the wording is intriguing. As you can see on the photos from Fall River (above) and New Bedford (below) the organizations that erected the monuments switched the usual order of words to ‘American Portuguese’ and one organization called itself the ‘loyalty’ association. The American eagle symbolism was used without the usual addition of symbolic Portuguese elements. Why was this?

During World War II, Portugal was ruled by Antonio Salazar, a fascist dictator. While he never formally allied Portugal with the Axis powers, he was never fully supportive of the Allied cause. Salazar initially resisted, but finally allowed Allied use of the Portuguese Atlantic islands for air bases. He made no secret of his admiration for the Italian dictator Mussolini. Salazar ordered Portuguese flags flown at half-staff after learning of the death of Hitler. By association, the loyalty of Portuguese Americans to the United States became somewhat suspect during World War II despite the large number of Portuguese Americans who fought and died in that war (as was the case with German, Japanese and Italian Americans).

Similar wording on a monument in New Bedford. Photo by the author.

Note also the use of the phrase “the Portuguese Colony in New Bedford” at the bottom of the New Bedford monument. This phrasing was common among older immigrants but has largely died out.

Monument on Columbia Street in Fall River. Photo by the author.

There are monuments honoring individual soldiers who died in wars. Above is one in Fall River, in the heart of the Portuguese community. The wording notes that it was erected by a Portuguese American athletic club — a social club that sponsors a soccer team.

A monument below in New Bedford, shows the importance of having some knowledge of Portuguese symbolism or its ‘semiotic glossary.’ Unless you are a local who recognizes the soldier’s name as Portuguese, the only other clue is the five-shield symbol derived from the Portuguese flag as discussed in my blog post #3.

Note the 5-shield symbol on this monument in New Bedford. Photo by the author.

The last topic for today wasn’t specifically built as a monument but named for a Portuguese American: the Braga Bridge that connects Fall River to its suburb, Somerset across the Taunton River. There’s a local joke: “What’s the longest bridge in the world? The Braga: it goes from Somerset to Portugal.” Kidding aside, the bridge is named for Charles M. Braga, a sailor of Portuguese American ancestry who was killed at Pearl Harbor. He was the first serviceman from Fall River to die in World War II.

The Braga Bridge with the USS Massachusetts in the background. Photo by the author.

Based on the Census Bureau’s latest American Community Survey, 1.4 million American residents reported some Portuguese ancestry. While California is home to the largest cluster, about 25%, the combined total in the three states of Southeastern New England represent about a third of the total — about 450,000 people. Rhode Island has the largest percentage of population with Portuguese ancestry, 9%, followed by Massachusetts, 4%.

The initial cores of settlement for the Portuguese in the United States date back to the mid-1800’s and were connected with New Bedford’s whaling industry. (and Moby Dick!) American whalers picked up provisions and crew in the Azores and Cape Verde islands and many Portuguese sailors later settled at whaling ports-of-call in coastal Massachusetts, the San Francisco Bay area and Hawaii. These cores grew as more Portuguese arrived to work in the textile mills of New England, the sugar cane fields of Hawaii, and on the farms of northern California.

Many more Portuguese immigrated between 1960 and 1980 due to volcanic eruptions in the Azores. Since these Portuguese formed such a large group of more recent European immigrants, few people realize that only Germans, Poles, Italians and English outnumber today’s foreign-born Portuguese in the United States. There are more foreign-born Portuguese living in the United States (about 75,000) than people from any of the following countries: France, Greece, Ireland, Spain, all the Scandinavian countries combined, and many others.

I grew up in this area and in the Portuguese American culture. Now I’m a retired geography professor and I’ve outlined these ideas in detail in my book Making History — Creating a Landscape: The Portuguese American Community of Southeastern New England. Available on Amazon.com at https://www.amazon.com/Making-History-Creating-Landscape-Southeastern/dp/1722258462/ref=monarch_sidesheet_title