Portuguese American women on an art installation in Provincetown harbor. Photo by the author.

We’re wandering in an urban ethnic landscape — maybe even getting lost — learning about a different culture, that of Portuguese Americans in southeastern New England.

So — signs, symbols and stones (monuments). Today we’ll look at some monuments in and around the two cities that are home to most Portuguese Americans in the area: Fall River and New Bedford, Massachusetts.

Monument to Prince Henry the Navigator in Fall River MA. Photo by the author.

The first monument of substantial size and prominence in the Portuguese American communities of southeastern New England was a monument to Prince Henry the Navigator unveiled in Fall River in 1940. The monument at the intersection of Eastern Avenue and Pleasant Street was erected to coincide with the 800th anniversary of the founding of Portugal in 1140 and also with the 1940 Portuguese World’s Fair.

It took a while, but not to be outdone, New Bedford dedicated its own monument to Prince Henry in 1996. Both statues sit within a compass rose and both are surrounded by a pattern of wavy black and white tiles that is a distinctive Portuguese cultural design element common on streets and sidewalks not only in cities like Lisbon, but in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil and in Ponta Delgada in the Azores.

Monument to Prince Henry the Navigator in New Bedford MA. Photo by the author.

These two Prince Henry monuments and the Newport, Rhode Island Portuguese Discovery monument commemorate the seafaring and world exploration tradition of the Portuguese nation. Although he never left Portugal, Prince Henry directed the explorations from his coastal outpost in Sagres, the southwesternmost tip of Portugal and of Europe.

Today there is debate in Portugal and in the Portuguese American communities over the extent to which this era of Portuguese exploration in the fifteenth and sixteenth Centuries, collectively known as “The Discoveries,” defines the heritage of the Portuguese nation. Luís Vaz de Camões, the author who wrote Portugal’s great national epic poem, The Lusiads, has so come to define The Discoveries that Dia de Portugal, Portugal’s National Day and an annual celebration in Portuguese communities in the USA, is now set on June 10, the anniversary of Camões death.

But times change. Just as one might say Columbus is “in trouble,” a nationalistic focus on exploration brings up colonialism, Portugal’s colonial wars in Angola and Mozambique, and overseas exploitation. A trend now is to shift the focus of monuments and celebrations to commemorate immigration rather than exploration and colonialism. A prime example of the new focus is the statue, “The Spirit of the Immigrant” that was unveiled in 1997 in Dartmouth, just outside of New Bedford. The cultural symbolism includes the American and Portuguese shields and speaks of saudade, longing for the homeland.

Spirit of the Immigrant in Dartmouth MA. Photo by the author.

This shift is also evident in the dedicatory plaques on the two monuments to Prince Henry. The dedication text of the New Bedford statue is clearly focused on immigration in contrast to the traditional homage to exploration commemorated on the dedicatory plaques of the Fall River monument erected 57 years earlier. The deliberate facing of the New Bedford figure due East toward Portugal (southeastern New England is about the latitude of northern Portugal) is reminiscent of two sculptures of a young Irish emigrant, Annie Moore. Two statues of Annie face each other over thousands of miles of Atlantic Ocean between Ellis Island in New York and Cobn in County Cork, Ireland.

The young Irish woman brings up a second trend — not only “what” we honor is changing, but “who” we honor is changing. In the past, monuments almost always honored “Great Men.” And here’s one more — a monument in New Bedford to Peter (Pedro) Francisco, a Revolutionary war hero of Portuguese ancestry whom George Washington called a “one-man army.” But quick — can you think of a monument to a person who is not male? There they are staring down on us — politicians, explorers, generals and other war heroes, usually, all males.

Monument to Peter Francisco in New Bedford MA. Photo by the author.

So, the second trend is illustrated by a public art installation on a wharf in Provincetown. This photo is shown at the top of this post. Provincetown was historically a town dominated by Portuguese fisherman, although that industry and population largely belong to the past. But for once, women, and ordinary women like Annie, not Great Men, are the feature of the display. “They Also Faced the Sea,” created by artists Ewa Nogiec and Norma Holt, honors five women from the Provincetown Portuguese American community. (One woman’s picture has been destroyed by weather.)

So who’s building all these monuments? Several factors are involved. The first is the numerical dominance of the Portuguese Americans in the area. Based on US Census Bureau data, as I explain in more detail in my book, persons reporting some Portuguese ancestry make up almost a half-million residents of the tri-state region of southern New England — Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut.

In the cities of Fall River and New Bedford, respectively, those with Portuguese ancestry make up 46% and 38% of the city populations. These are larger proportions of an ethnic group than almost anywhere else in the United States. We think of Italians in New York City, Irish in Boston and Germans in Milwaukee, but the Portuguese percentages locally are higher than all these better-known examples. In fact, of American ethnic groups, only Hispanics in some metropolitan areas in Florida and along the US-Mexico border have higher percentages of a single ethnic group. And if you add in the linguistically and culturally affiliated groups of Brazilians and Cape Verdeans in the area, those percentages rise to about 50% in both Fall River and New Bedford.

Committee of the Portuguese Discovery monument in Newport RI. Photo by the author.

The second reason for the construction of monuments is that, after generations of struggle (Portuguese have been in the area in large numbers since the late 1800’s), some Portuguese Americans have acquired enough wealth to make donations and the political influence to make this kind of impact happen in the landscape. The inscription recognizing the monument committee on Newport’s Portuguese Discovery Monument in Brenton Point State Park illustrates this. It’s a “who’s who” of the Portuguese American community in Rhode Island — elected officials, judges and doctors, all with Portuguese surnames. (And speaking of voyages of discovery, a keen-eyed history buff may spot the name Magalhaes, the Portuguese spelling of Magellan whose Spanish crew completed the first round-the-world sailing voyage in 1522. Maybe a descendant?)

A third factor in the monument building is that the Portuguese and Azorean governments often make financial contributions toward monuments, museums and cultural activities in the area. Portugal maintains interaction with its overseas citizens, getting them to vote in Portuguese elections and involving them in Portugal’s concerns, or to involve them in political activities in the United States to assist Portugal. Private donations from Portugal help too; the “Spirit of the Immigrant” monument was a gift from the people of the town of Povoação on São Miguel island in the Azores.

Lastly, there’s an element of nostalgia — perhaps saudade — and cultural preservation. Portuguese immigration to the area has declined (although Brazilian and Cape Verdean immigration continues to increase), and there’s a feeling of a need to preserve the culture and pass it on to future generations.

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. 

The author’s book on Amazon.com https://www.amazon.com/Making-History-Creating-Landscape-Southeastern/dp/1722258462/ref=monarch_sidesheet_title