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Cultural
Communities
A
haven for immigrants
Since the seventeenth century, New Bedford has been a major destination
for immigrants, a city shaped by the diversity of its residents.
Today, new arrivals live alongside descendants of Wampanoag Indians
and the many ethnic groups that have made New Bedford home over
more than 300 years.
The influence of whaling
As the whaling industry grew, the need for crewmen for ships influenced
New Bedford's ethnic character. In the 18th and early 19th centuries,
crews were drawn from men of African, British, or Native American
ancestry who had settled in and around the city. Beginning around
1800, increasing numbers of whalemen from the Azores and Cape
Verdes, islands governed by Portugal, joined the crews of New
Bedford vessels and began to make their homes in the city.
Fleeing the famine
As a potato famine ravaged Ireland in the mid-nineteenth century,
many residents fled and established a large New Bedford Irish
community.
Industrialism
Like other American cities, New Bedford was transformed by nineteenth-century
industrialization, which brought an influx of immigrants, who
wanted jobs and relief from difficult conditions in their native
lands. Although only fourteen percent of the city's population
was foreign-born in 1865, the development of the textile industry
swelled that percentage to 40.9 by 1900:
* English residents doubled from 1865-1890, many arriving from
mills in Lancashire to become weavers and spinners in New Bedford;
* Portuguese from mainland Portugal and the Madeira islands began
arriving after 1870 to work in the mills, joining earlier immigrants
from the Azores and Cape Verde Islands to make the Portuguese
the largest cultural community in New Bedford today; * French-Canadians
also came to work in the mills in the years after the end of the
Civil War (1865). For a time around 1900, they were the largest
group of immigrants in New Bedford.
A rich tapestry
In addition, immigrants from the world over have contributed to
the rich tapestry of cultural life in New Bedford. Significant
Dominican, Puerto Rican, and Asian communities have also developed
in recent years.
For information on ethnic and religious festivals and events that
take place in the city, go to City of New
Bedford's Home Page at http://www.ci.new-bedford.ma.us.
For
more information regarding whaling please utilize our research
library at the Kendall Institute
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