Ramon Guiteras Font, born in Matanzas, Cuba to a wealthy family, arrives in Bristol, RI (c.1856) where his son, Ramon Benjamin, is born (1858). While not making a significant impact in the history of Latinos in Rhode Island, he continues to reside in Bristol and maintains family connections and ties with Cuba through his financial investments. He dies in Bristol in 1917.
The 1800s
Bernardino Ramos, born on March 28, 1882, in Spain, arrives in Central Falls (1920) and has five children with Celsa Norgurol (1892–1977). He dies in 1956 in Rhode Island at the age of 74.
Ramos’s son Fernando (Freddie) is born in Central Falls (1921). In 1966, he rents family-owned apartments on Cowden Street to three Colombians, who arrived the previous year in Central Falls, to work in Lyon Silk Works, Inc. a textile mill owned by Joseph Giuttari. Later, he also helps Colombians who arrive in the 1970s with housing and jobs at Cadillac Mill & Pontiac Weaving. Freddie dies in 2007 in Arizona, at the age of 86.
The 1920s
Puerto Ricans are recruited by private business owners, and brought to Providence to work in locals factories and as temporary workers on farms and nurseries. Among them is Julio A. Casiano, who at the age of 22 came to Rhode Island as a temporary migrant worker in the spring of 1926. While he traveled back-and-forth from Puerto Rico to Rhode Island, he eventually settled in Providence and remained there until his death in 1997.
Rafael Leónidas Trujillo Molina, nicknamed El Jefe, rules the Dominican Republic from February 1930 until his assassination in May 1961.
1930
El Club Panamericano, a Latin-American social club made up mainly of women, holds first meeting in Providence.
1940
The first bracero program is implemented between the U.S. and Mexico.
1942-1947
WWII breaks out, and lasts from 1939 to 1945
In 1944, Puerto Ricans first move into naval base housing in Newport.
1939-1945
In January of 1944, 60 Mexican men, as part of the original Bracero Program are brought from California and Texas to a labor camp in East Greenwich to help meet a labor shortage suffered by the railroad in the Northeast due to WWII. They work in East Greenwich, Providence, East Hartford, Springfield and New Haven to lay down and maintain railroad tracks that connect the West Coast and East Coast, United States. Two months later, 82 more men arrive.
January 1944
“Operation Bootsrap” goes into effect, initiating a program of industrial and labor exchange between the U.S. mainland and Puerto Rico.
1947
In March of 1949, Zanoni Ortega originally from Mérida, Yucatan, México arrives in Providence to begin a residency in radiology at Roger Williams General Hospital. His wife, Estela and their three children (Elia Astrid, Landy Eugenia and Victor Javier) join him in October. They have two more children while in Rhode Island: Nancy and Kenny. They are the first recorded Mexican family to date, who remain in Rhode Island for the next five decades. Zanoni passes away in 1992.
1949
A residency at St. Joseph Hospital bring Argentinian Dario Herrera, MD and his wife Blanca first to Fall River, and then to Providence. Dr. Herrera is one of three physicians at the Hindle Memorial Clinic placed there by the hospital in the 1950s and 60s. Dr. Herrera, a cardiologist, continues his practice until his death in 2004.
1954
On February 16, 1959, Castro is sworn in as Prime Minister of Cuba. In 1960 most economic ties between Cuba and the United States are severed, and the U.S. breaks diplomatic relations with the island country in January 1961.
1959
Josefina (Doña Fefa) and Antonio Rosario open a bodega, the first Latino-owned business in Providence, at 1234 Broad Street in the Washington Park neighborhood of South Providence.
1959
Please contribute to this page below:
Rhode Island Latino History | A TIMELINE
With the exception of those of pure Native American descent, nobody is "from here."
Part of America's identity is its reputation as a place where anything is possible, where education and hard work are the keys to opportunity and prosperity. It's what brought countless Latino immigrants to America, to Rhode Island, years ago and what continues to draw other bright and hard-working immigrants today.
As the debate over immigration reform heats up, we would do well to remember that America has always been a place of freedom and refuge from poverty and persecution.
The information gathered to create this timeline shows that Rhode Island was indeed built by immigrants.
Do you have something to contribute to this timeline? We are looking to update this information and seek information, photographs and personal or promotional document ie, flyers, business card, newspaper clippings, etc. that will help us make this a comprehensive story.
Click on the orange tab to the right of this page, fill out a short form, and someone will be in touch soon.
………
Con la excepción de los descendientes de nativos americanos puros, nadie es "de aquí".
Parte de la identidad de Estados Unidos es su reputación como un lugar donde todo es posible, donde la educación y el trabajo duro son las claves de la oportunidad y la prosperidad. Es lo que trajo a innumerables inmigrantes latinos a Estados Unidos, a Rhode Island, hace años y lo que sigue atrayendo a otros inmigrantes brillantes y trabajadores hoy.
Mientras continúa el debate sobre la reforma migratoria, haríamos bien en recordar que Estados Unidos siempre ha sido un lugar de libertad y refugio de la pobreza y la persecución.
La información que ve aquí en esta línea de tiempo muestra que Rhode Island fue construida por inmigrantes.
¿Tienes algo que contribuir a esta línea de tiempo? Estamos buscando actualizar esta información y buscamos información, fotografías y documentos personales o promocionales, es decir, volantes, tarjetas de presentación, recortes de periódicos, etc., que nos ayuden a hacer de esta una historia completa.
Haga clic en el cuadro naranja a la derecha de esta página para completar un breve formulario, y alguien se pondrá en contacto pronto.
………
Citations
When using materials from this website, please acknowledge by stating the name of the URL of the webpage on which it is displayed. Citations should include full bibliographic information as follows: Courtesy of the Latino Oral History Project of Rhode Island, Central Falls, RI.