Rodriguez and the rest of the interviewees took this description and added to it, going beyond the move to the cities in the 1970’s and into the decline of the community in the 1990’s and 2000’s. However, the working conditions were very bad, and the workers wanted a better way of life, which led to their moving to the cities in search of industrial jobs (Glasser, 2002). In it, she details the emigration from Puerto Rico to the Hartford area specifically for farming jobs, and how Hartford was the second largest recipient of Puerto Rican farmhands in the country at the time. Ruth Glasser’s article Tobacco Valley: Puerto Rican Farm Workers in Connecticut describes a nearly identical story to the one told by the interviewees. Much of the Puerto Rican community in central Connecticut first emigrated from Puerto Rico to work in the tobacco fields, beginning shortly after the end of World War II (). Unfortunately, with the closure of those employers and the loss of nearly all industrial jobs, the community today finds that they no longer have the resources to provide for their children as they had in the 1970’s and 1980’s. Essentially, the Puerto Rican community that had moved from farming in central Connecticut to industrial work in the cities were then able to put the next generation through college and on to what they considered to be an improved way of life. The Puerto Rican community as a whole had come to the central Connecticut area for farm work in the mid 1950’s, then moved into the cities of New Britain and Plainville for better paying industrial jobs in the late 1960’s and 1970’s.Įmployers that provided high numbers of Puerto Rican employment were noted as Plainville Casting, Stanley Works, General Electric in Plainville, and New Britain Machine. Julia Rodriguez expressed significant pride for the successes of her daughters, not just her daughter Mildred winning the pageant and being named Queen, but also the career paths of her and her twin daughter. All interviewees held a large amount of pride for being involved with what they referred to as the First Puerto Rican Festival 2. A corresponding interview was conducted with Julia Rodriguez, who donated the items, and three other community and family members.ĭuring the corresponding interview, three key topics were brought up: 1. The pageant was held at the Puerto Rican Club in New Britain, CT, and the festival was held on Jul 16, 1988. These are various newspaper clippings and photographs announcing the winner of the pageant to name the Queen of the Puerto Rican Festival.
0 kommentar(er)
