New Bedford Whaling Museum

Capelinhos Erupts Again, O Jornal, New Bedford

By: LUÍS FILIPE DIAS

09/26/2008

NEW BEDFORD - The recent release of the book "Capelinhos: A Volcano of synergies, Azorean Emigration to America" is energizing the local Portuguese-American community with a sense of pride because of its in-depth look at the last wave of Luzo immigration.

The book coordinated by Tony Goulart captures how the eruption of Capelinhos Volcano in the Azorean island of Faial in the 1950s helped shape the identity of Portuguese communities in the United States.

Gloria de Sá, assistant professor of Portuguese-American Studies at UMass Dartmouth, contributed with two articles for the book. One is about the characteristics of Portuguese in the United States according to the 2000 Census and the other features the Portuguese in the East Coast.

"The book is a real wonderful effort that brings together a large number of writings about the event that launched the last and major wave of Portuguese immigration to the United States," said de Sá.

"It's very well done and has a large number of articles from a wide array of contributors - from academics to people from various walks of life in the Unites States and in the Azores. It offers a large number of testimonials by people that experienced the eruption of the Capelinhos," added de Sá.

Frank Sousa, director of the Center for Portuguese Studies and Culture at UMass Dartmouth, highlighted the importance of the book.

"It is a very important publication that really gives form to so many anonymous lives that contributed to this wave of immigration," said Sousa. "It is a very important document that helps us understand ourselves."

Onesimo Almeida, professor of Portuguese and Brazilian Studies at Brown University, called it a "superb book" and a "comprehensive look at the last wave of Portuguese immigration."

"It touches upon various subjects, ranging from history, sociology to folk culture and on," said Almeida. "The outcome is a superb comprehensive book of everything that has happened in this community since them."

Almeida argued that "Capelinhos: A Volcano of synergies" is the first bi-coastal book about the Portuguese American experience because of its examination of Luzo-American communities in the West and East coasts.

The book, which was previously launched in the West Coast by Portuguese Heritage Publications, will be presented at 6 p.m. Friday Oct. 3 at the New Bedford Whaling Museum Auditorium. The next day, the book will be presented by Casa dos Açores da Nova Inglaterra, at 6 p.m. at St. Francis Xavier Church Hall in East Providence. On Monday, Oct. 6 at 6 p.m., it will be presented at the Cambridge Public Library.