Signs, Symbols and Stones: The Portuguese American Urban Ethnic Landscape #2

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…