1954, THE MICAELENSE YEAR
José-Louis Jacome, September 21, 2020
The second contingent
On Friday, April 23, 1954, the Salazar pier of São Miguel’s Ponta Delgada port was once more completely crowded. From all corners of the island, families and friends came to salute the 450 Micaelenses leaving in the afternoon. The Homeland entered the port around 1:20 p.m. Under light rain, goodbyes were just heartbreaking, many were crying. People hugged like it was the last time they were seeing each other. Some were already fearing the years away of their loved ones and their “rica terra”. Their universe was, up to that moment, limited by the contours of the island, and a big wall, the endless ocean all around. Most of them had never seen a picture of Canada, an unknown country, north of the USA where it was cold but where there was also lots of work. That is all they knew. They were leaving with a one-way ticket that cost them years of work and sweat, some 5,300 escudos, about 176 dollars. The majority had to borrow the ticket price and as much for related expenses needed for the big trip. In the morning, the 450 immigrants and some family members were hosted by the Ponta Delgada Autonomous District Governor at the Palácio da Conceição.
The ceremony was described in the local newpaper Diário dos Açores of April 23. Here is an incomplete and free translation of the article just to give you a feeling of the event and historic moment, the largest departure of Azoreans of this first wave of Portuguese immigration to Canada.
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The Governor, Aniceto dos Santos, hosted today at 11 AM in the large hall of the Palácio da Conceição, the 450 São Miguel emigrants that will leave to Canada in the afternoon. The latter and family members completely filled the hall. Many emigrants carried a country’s flag provided by the Ponta Delgada City Hall. As he entered the hall, the Governor was long applauded. In his speech, he said that their courageous move would bring them work and a better life.
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Later on, a Ribeirinha emigrant, José Adriano, thanked the Governor in the name of all attendees. He completed his very emotional speech by asking all to loudly salute with three “Viva”; Portugal, Salazar and the Governor. A short text Despedida do emigrante was handed out to all with an image of the Ribeirinha iconic Christ, o Santissimo Salvador do Mundo. At the end, Inspector Ferreira da Costa wished good luck to all.
The largest contingent of the first wave of Portuguese emigration to Canada (1953-56) left São Miguel on April 23, 1954. Before boarding, the 450 Micaelenses participated in a ceremony at the Palácio da Conceiçâo in Ponta Delgada. The picture was published in the Correio dos Açores, April 25, 1954. - Museu da Emigração Açoriana
Free translation of 2 excerpts from the article En chamada do Canada, published on Sunday April 25, 1954 in the Correio dos Açores newspaper.
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EXCERPT 1
It's raining all the time. Thousands of people crowd onto the Salazar Pier. The ship was about to enter port. Everything was managed efficiently by the pier manager Manuel de Castro and the head of the fiscal post, Sergeant Gleata. The police and the tax guard were ready.
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Suddenly, a new order, no one can go further on the pier. The emigrants, suitcases on their shoulders, return to the beginning of the jetty where they should board small boats (lanchas) to get to the Homeland anchored offshore.
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They waited a long time in the relentless rain, the wait was endless, and then, another turnaround, the Homeland finally headed and docked at the quay. Once again, suitcases on their shoulders, under further direction from the police, the emigrants moved calmly and orderly to the end of the pier. Why the agency did not organize the transport of the suitcases by the dock staff? We don't understand.
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Preparations for boarding then begin. Immediately the first tears appear. I try to pick a few sentences and capture the atmosphere. The lens of my camera stops on a godmother who adjusts the tie of her dear godson, José da Costa, from the parish of Remedios, region of Bretanha.
Boarding the Homeland
On the Salazar pier
Museu da Emigração Açoriana
From the Furnas area, we saw, and heard the well-known José Mauricio telling us: "I would like you to write in the Correio that I leave satisfied but with my heart bounded to my people and to my land, Vale das Furnas.
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Next Sunday, the day of the most beautiful feast, the procession of the Sagrado Viático, I will pray ardently for the sick and for all my compatriots. May Senhora Santana bless us and protect me. "
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A person who catches everyone's attention crosses the barrier, Mariano Inácio de Medeiros. Suitcase over his left shoulder, he looks like someone who has been crying. He carries a small Portuguese flag in his right hand. I walk over to him and say: "Are you crying for your flag, your land or your family?" He replies: “I cry with emotion for everything I see. I cry for the place where I lived, Lomba da Maia, and for those I have left there. But I bring a flag from my Portugal to give me strength in tough situations, like the Holy Christ does. I'm taking it all in the boat”. He then headed for the boat stairs.
EXCERPT 2
We are waiting for the first passenger to board. This is Luiz de Medeiros Costa from the Povoação region. Governor Aniceto dos Santos with his private secretary, Captain Vaz do Rego, and his son, Antonio da Costa Santos, are nearby. The latter said his farewell to everyone and spoke with the first emigrant to climb the stairs to the boat. He said a few friendly words to her and then kissed her with great emotion. The emigrant goes up a little and promises to send him news.
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The Emigration staff or Junta da Emigração and the PIDE policemen (Polícia international e de defesa do estado, the political police) planned a quick and orderly boarding. So well that at 7 PM the Homeland was ready to leave the dock. It saluted Ponta Delgada with three whistles before setting off. (Perhaps due to inclement weather, the Homeland remained anchored offshore, all lit up, until the next day.)
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Subsequently, the island of São Miguel has regained its normality, its daily routine, until the next departure, next Tuesday, the day another ship, the Nea Hellas, will leave with the last 171 emigrants completing the group of 950 Azoreans who will immigrate to Canada in 1954.
Alfredo do Rego Borges, a friend of my father carrying its luggage and its 2 bottles of cachaça* hung over his left shoulder.
Pier Salazar, Ponta Delgada, São Miguel, April 23, 1954. (Izaura Frades)
The Mythical Contingent
Emigrants from Agua do Pau - Teresa Pacheco
The second contingent, by far the largest of this wave of immigration to Canada, will also become its mythical contingent. The 450 Micaelenses represent almost 50% of the Azoreans who will leave for Canada in 1954. The numerous articles, pictures and stories related to this group testify to its historical importance. Of this number, nearly 200 passengers were from Ribeira Grande. My father knew almost all of them. It was a small community. In Canada, he already had his friend Guilherme Cabral (Rodrigues), one of the 18 Saturnia Micaelenses pioneers that left in May 1953. Several of his friends and neighbors were part of the 276 Micaelenses that left on the first Homeland trip, on March 22, including José da Costa and Dinis Maciel. Today, one month later, he was boarding with many friends from Ribeira Grande including Alfredo do Rego Borges, José Cabral and the three Pascoal brothers, Jaime, José and Manuel. Others would follow on the Nea Hellas boat four days later.
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Many of these Azoreans would form the core of Portuguese in Montreal and Toronto, to which would be added thousands of other Azoreans in the 1950s and subsequent decades. The Azoreans and their descendants now make up for more than 70% of the Portuguese living in Canada according to José Carlos Teixeira, a natural of Ribeira Grande and professor at the University of British Columbia.
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My father had kept in touch with Guilherme Cabral. From the moment he arrived, Guilherme worked on Maurice Paradis farm in Saint-Michel, north of Montreal. He had built a reputation as a hard worker. The Canadians workers did not like his relentlessness at work. One day, 7 of them wanted to beat him. He took a steel bar and defended himself. Fortunately, the boss stopped the fight. Guilherme left the farm a bit after to try his luck in the railroads but the vice-consul, father Almeida, advised him not to leave the farm. He then returned to Saint-Michel to work in a nearby farm owned by a Maurice Paradis brother-in-law. When the second contingent arrived, on April 29, the boss asked him to recruit 5 Azoreans. My father, Manuel da Costa Jácome, is one of them. The others are Alfredo do Rego Borges, José Cabral, Dinis Maciel and Artur Modesto.
*Cachaça :
A common spirit in the Azores. Many Azorean emigrants carried bottles of cachaça with them, perhaps as a remedy for the huge shock of the great departure into the unknown. The bottles were wrapped in wickerwork. The set had a strap that could be hung over the shoulder.
About the author
Born in São Miguel and living in Montreal since 1958, I published a book in 2018 about Azorean immigration to Canada in the 1950s. “De uma ilha para outra” was published in Portuguese and French. The book and an exhibition that accompanies it were presented in Montreal, São Miguel, Toronto and Boston. The book is sold in Montreal, Toronto and São Miguel, and through my Website. I continue to publish information and stories relating to the first big wave of Azorean and Portuguese immigration to Canada in the 1950s through my Website jljacome.com and my Facebook page D’une île à l’autre.
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