Middle Nineteenth Century Portuguese Immigrants in Springfield, Illinois: Context and Project History

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Paper / Report Submission (General Sessions)", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

The first Portuguese arrived in Springfield (Illinois), from the Madeira Islands, in 1849, and by 1855 some 350 Portuguese were living in the city. They were exiles, who had been driven out of Madeira due to their conversion to Presbyterianism. Springfield’s Portuguese enclave was one of the first to be established in the Midwest and stood out in respect to its deep inland location. By the middle 1850s, as part of this enclave of newly arrived immigrants, several Portuguese families—Gomez, Mendonca, Rodrigues, and Ferriera—had purchased improved lots on Block 14, Wells and Peck’s Addition (in the 700 block of Mason Street), and established themselves in the community. As part of two separate mitigation projects, four city lots occupied by these Portuguese immigrants on Bock 14 were the focus of intensive archaeological mitigation. This paper presents a historic context for the Portuguese in Springfield, and an introduction to the two archaeological projects.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SHA 2023 General Sessions   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2023

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow