Connecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program collections, 2015.196.61.4, Connecticut Historical S…

Flyer: Festas do Senhor Santo Cristo dos Milagres

DistributorDistributed by Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish

Date2019

MediumPaper

ClassificationsInformation Artifacts

Credit LineConnecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program collections

DescriptionFlyer for Festas do Senhor Santo Cristo dos Milagres, 2019.

Object number2015.196.61.4

CopyrightIn Copyright

NotesSubject Note: Connecticut residents of Portuguese descent number close to 50,000; there is a Portuguese Consulate in Waterbury, signaling the importance of this ethnic group's presence throughout the state. Waterbury, Bridgeport, Hartford, Danbury and Stonington CT have sizeable Portuguese communities with different roots and cultural characters. Portuguese immigrants have come from mainland Portugal as well as the Azores and Madeira islands. Settling mainly in urban areas of Connecticut, they have established churches, shops, restaurants and bakeries, and social clubs. Many Hartford area Portuguese community members work in health care and hospitals, also construction. Immigrants from the Azores settled in coastal towns such as Stonington CT to pursue fishing and maritime occupations. Factories in inland cities such as Waterbury and Hartford attracted immigrants from rural areas of Portugal who sought available work. The population of entire towns in the northern farming and seafaring provinces of Minho, Tras-os-Montes, Douro and the Beiras came to settle here.

Cultural heritage is maintained strongly in Portuguese communities, seen in many festivals – often religious celebrations with processions – continuing throughout the state. Stonington holds a summer Blessing of the Fleet and Holy Ghost Festival in August, Waterbury celebrates Festa de Sao Joao in June, Naugatuck has the San Paio Festival over Labor Day, Danbury holds the Festa do Senhor Santo Cristo dos Milagres and other events, the Holy Ghost Society in East Hartford hosts a festival on its grounds, and Hartford organizes the Festa do Divino Espiritu Santo, the Festa do Sao Joao and the Day of Portugal, and St Martin’s Day in November (commemorating the crop of chestnuts), among other events. In addition to churches, social clubs in the cities are community centers of language, sports, newspapers, cultural activities, foodways and festivals. For instance, the Portuguese Club of Hartford was founded in 1927. In 2017 the Club suffered a devastating fire but has rebuilt the hall and its membership remains strong with a young population.

Several Portuguese dance groups exist, most based at Portuguese clubs or churches in different Connecticut cities such as Hartford, Waterbury, Danbury, and Bridgeport. The official dance troupe of Hartford's Club, Rancho Folclórico do Clube Português de Hartford, was formed originally in 1965 by immigrants eager to perform dances and music from their homeland; it is the oldest rancho in New England with a continued existence since 1972. The group is notable for the number of dancers and musicians who have been with the Rancho for decades, with marriages taking place and children coming into the group, forming family dance dynasties. Their repertoire of Portuguese songs covers north, south, and the Azores – reflecting the make-up of the Hartford community. The group includes many young musicians devoted to Portuguese culture. In 1976 the Rancho was invited to dance at the Smithsonian's Bicentennial celebrations, in 1985 they toured Portugal, performed at the Special Olympics in 1996 and the Lowell Folk festival in 1997. In addition to dancing at the Connecticut community festivals, the group participates in a network of Portuguese dance organizations who perform regularly across the East Coast. In 2019 the group was invited to Bermuda and Canada. The 50th Anniversary of the group was celebrated in 2022. The Rancho has hosted several visiting Portuguese dance groups from Canada and the U.S. during several Day of Folklore events that drew audiences of almost 500 each year.

Subject Note: In Danbury, The Sons of Portugal Club formed in 1924, on Liberty St. The community grew with new immigrants, and the Portuguese Club was also built on Liberty St. Other businesses followed to the downtown area, which became known as Portugal Square or Little Portugal. In the late 1990s, the community had grown to the point where the two clubs decided to merge and form the Portuguese Cultural Center, which was built on Sand Pit Rd. https://www.portugueseculturalcenter.org/

There are music and dance groups in Danbury: The Sons of Portugal Band was founded in 1940 by the members of the Sons of Portugal Club. Currently, the Band calls the Portuguese Cultural Center its home and continues to provide traditional band music to events in the Danbury area. “The Sons of Portugal Folklore Dance Group was founded on November 10, 1977 and is now situated within the Portuguese Cultural Center in Danbury, Connecticut. The group consists of musicians, dancers, singers with original costumes representing Portugal. The organization is formed by two types of Officers: Administrative and Artistic. This Folklore Group has a purpose not only for socialization among it’s members, but as well as to educate, stimulate, develop, encourage, cultivate, sponsor and promote public interest, awareness, appreciation and understanding of the traditional culture and language of Portugal.” Source: http://www.sopband.com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dz2LhD3ual4

Biographical Note: Rancho Folclorico Portugal Canta e Danca is a dance group formed in 1997 and based at the Portuguese Cultural Center at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Church on Deer Hill Ave. in Danbury. Members of this group wear costumes that are all the same (as different from other dance groups where the costumes vary among the dancers), and may be from the Minho region of Portugal. One special feature is the lace apron, it may be that this area specializes in lace, embroidery, and hand work (bordados) – see their facebook page for older procession photos suggesting this. They competed at a New England-wide Portuguese festival in Taunton MA and won first place for dance (beating out Hartford’s Rancho who were also competing)
https://www.facebook.com/Portugalcantaedanca/

Additional audio, video, and/or photographic materials exist in the archive relating to this community and these events.

Cataloging Note: This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services MA-245929-OMS-20.

Subject Terms