Nuestras Raices | Rhode Island

Pioneers | Pioneras y Pioneros

Pioneer: (noun)
A person who is among those who first enter, venture, or settle into region, thus opening it for occupation and development by others.

Anthony (Tony) Affigne


In 1982, Tony Affigne decided to run for office as one of three Latinos in Rhode Island running at that time. In 1985, he became the first Latino to run for Governor.

Don Pedro Cano


Today it is hard to imagine that we lived like that in those days. Central Falls has changed and now we have so many [Latino] markets, restaurants, record stores and people in the street can be heard speaking Spanish every day ...

Julieta Castellanos


Julie Castellanos's remarkable story embodies what Latinos and Latinas endured yet persevered as new immigrants to this country in the 1970s and 80s ....

Osvaldo Castillo


Today, the community has changed a lot because it is larger. I see more bilingual people working in government offices, and back in the early days there was none of that. I also speak better English, but I still feel bad for the people who are just arriving to this country because they still have to go through what I went through ...

Bernardo Chamorro


In 1955, Angel “Tato" Cosme quit school after the ninth grade to help his mother earn money for the family. He left the poverty of his home in Puerto Rico and traveled to New England, and eventually settled in Rhode Island.

Angel "Tato" Cosme


In 1955, Angel “Tato" Cosme quit school after the ninth grade to help his mother earn money for the family. He left the poverty of his home in Puerto Rico and traveled to New England, and eventually settled in Rhode Island.

Grace Díaz


In 2004, Grace Diaz was elected to the Rhode Island House of Representatives and made history as she became the first Dominican-American in the country elected for this post.

Juan Francísco


In the 1985 Juán Francisco was one of the founders of the first Hispanic Political Action Committee (HPAC) in Rhode Island, which launched a political awareness among Hispanics.

Jay Giuttari


The Colombian population in Rhode Island owes its beginnings to one gentleman who, in the early 1960s, had an insightful and innovative idea: Jay Giuttari, whose father owned Lyon Fabrics, a textile mill in Central Falls.

José González


My main goal then, was to give back to the Latino community by going into social work. But I had a moral dilemma. In social work you sometimes provide too much support, and don’t educate people into becoming independent. And you have this realization that the best way you can help the Latino community is by educating them ...

Roberto González


Roberto González moved to Rhode Island from New York City in 1969 with his brother, José. After being invited here to visit, their mother decided to bring the family (including a third brother) to raise them in what she felt was a safer environment. Roberto eventually became the first Latino Judge in Rhode Island - sworn into the Providence Housing Court in 2004 ....

Francisco Litardo


In the summer of 1974, Cuban minister Rev. Pedro Ortiz walked the streets of Rhode Island, knocking on the doors of local churches. He was there on behalf of the American Baptist Church, tasked with finding congregations willing to host Spanish-speaking services. It was Calvary Baptist Church that opened its doors to him.

Victor Mendoza


The best thing that I did, my best performance is when we founded the Coalition of Hispanic organizations because that was the agency that gave respect to the community. That was the agency that put the name Hispanic high in the state ...

Ramon Morales | Johnny Chimi


Everyone knows him as “Johnny Chimi” but his name is Ramon Morales. What he is most known for is the red food truck parked set back on Broad Street. An interview confirms it was the first Chimi truck in the Broad Street neighborhood.

Alberto Moronta


I began cutting hair at a place called "The Talk of the Town," located on Oxford Street. All the Hispanics started coming there so I can cut their hair, so it was then that I decided to open my own business. In 1986, I opened Alberto's Hair Salon on Broad Street.

Olga Noguera


I think that we have done so much with the Hispanic community that people who come now should be very proud of the people who opened doors … I think that we made a lot of strides and I think that we need to encourage young persons to participate in the Hispanic community ...

Col. Oscar Pérez


Col. Oscar Pérez, a Colombian immigrant made history when he became the first Latino Chief of Police in Rhode Island.

Valentín Ríos


Valentín Ríos came to Rhode Island in the early 1960s. He was one of the first Colombians here who were brought to work in the failing mills in Central Falls.

Manuel Rivera


In 1980, Manuel Rivera decided that he would run for office when threw in has hat to run for two races: House District 19 and Senate District 9. According to research, this was the first time any Hispanic had run for office in the State of Rhode Island.

Doña Fefa Rosario


I remember when we would drive to New Haven in our blue station wagon to buy platános, yuca, café Dominicano and other food for the Hispanic people who lived in Providence in the mid-to-late 1960s ...

Miriam (Salabert) Gorriaran


Tessie Salabert and her sister, Miriam, were born in Cuba. The two girls and their brother, Eduardo, were sent to the U.S. on April 10, 1961 as a result of “Operación Pedro Pan (Operation Peter Pan).” Tessie was 11 years old , Miriam was 14 years old and their brother was eight. ....

Tessie Salabert


Tessie Salabert and her sister, Miriam, were born in Cuba. The two girls and their brother, Eduardo, were sent to the U.S. on April 10, 1961 as a result of “Operación Pedro Pan (Operation Peter Pan).” Tessie was 11 years old , Miriam was 14 years old and their brother was eight. ....

Enrique Sánchez Mora


Enrique Sánchez Mora was born in Piaxtla, Puebla, México. In 1988 he opened Sánchez Market on Atwells Avenue in Providence, the first Mexican grocery store in Rhode Island.

Nerino Sánchez


Nerino Sánchez arrived penniless in Miami in 1969, fed up with the rationing and communism of Castro's Cuba. Soon he joined relatives in Providence. Many early Latinos remember shopping at a small market that he owned on Douglas Avenue.

Angel Taveras


Angel Taveras was raised in Providence by a single mother and attended the public schools. In 2000 he was unsuccessful candidate for the 2nd Congressional District and in 2011 ran and was elected first Latino mayor in the City of Providence
....

Acelia "Ada" Terrero


Ada Terrero made some of the best cakes her friends and neighbors ever had. So when she started selling her creations from her Provi­dence home, she immediately had orders for numerous parties and weddings. Little did she know that she was launching the first Latin-American bakery in Rhode Island.

Anastasia Williams


Rep. Anastasia Williams is of Panamanian heritage. In 1991, she made history as the first Hispanic and first Latina to a political office in Rhode Island when she was elected to represent District 9 in the Rhode Island House of Representatives.
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The History of Latino Community Activism


When Latin Americans first began to arrive in Providence in the 1950s and 1960s, the very small community was met with minimal recognition on the part of the bureaucracy...