Pasqual Family.

[Photo Album Documenting A Portuguese American Family].

San Jose, California: 1941-1945. String-tied wood boards incised with painted illustrations. 96 pages with 483 black and white photographs inserted into corner mounts. Album very good plus with minimal wear; photos generally near fine or better.

This is an enormous album showing the family of Edward and Mary Pasqual, Portuguese Americans from San Jose, California.

According to Frederick G. Bohme in “The Portuguese in California,” (California Historical Society Quarterly 35, no. 3 (1956): 233–52. https://doi.org/10.2307/25155067), the first permanent Portuguese settlers in North America arrived in 1654. They were expelled Jews who initially sought refuge in Holland, then went to Brazil, and fled to the Atlanticseaboard colonies when the Dutch were pushed from Brazil by the Portuguese that same year. The first Portuguese in California were fishermen from the Azore Islands; they came to California beginning in the 1850s via New Bedford, Massachusetts where a large whaling fleet was based and where Portuguese in considerable numbers had settled. By the 1860s, a majority of the crews (but not the officers) of whaling ships operating along the lower California coast were Portuguese. By the early 20th century Portuguese Americans were a significant part of the commercial fishing industry in California. By 1940, thirty-five percent of all Portuguese Americans lived in California.

According to the 1940 census, Eddie was an upholsterer who owned his own business. The album confirms this, with two photographs of his shop's store front which was located at 2nd and San Salvador. Also according to that census, Eddie was born in the United States, while Mary was born in The Azores.

Eddie served in the Aleutians during World War II and a couple dozen photos here show him and fellow service members. The family apparently owned a farm as there are approximately 15 photos showing family members working with cows, heavy machinery and playing around hay bales.

The majority of the album consists of posed pictures of family and friends with approximately 200 depicting Eddie and Mary's young children. We see the family at picnics, hikes in the woods and mountains, and various trips throughout the state. Very good +. Item #9382

Price: $1,150.00