DaCosta Holton, Kimberly., and Andrea. Klimt. Community, Culture and the Makings of Identity : Portuguese-Americans along the Eastern Seaboard. Portuguese in the Americas Series ; 11. North Dartmouth, Mass: University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, Center for Portuguese Studies and Culture, 2009. https://www.umasspress.com/9781933227276/community-culture-and-the-makings-of-identity/
This book is an ethnographic study of Portuguese American emigration and culture in the East Coast between the early-mid 20th century. It is written by Lusophone Studies scholars Kimberly Da Costa Holton of Rutgers-Newark and Andrea Klimt of UMASS in Dartmouth. While the book is a broad study on Portuguese Americans, Holton and other scholars dedicate chapters on the diaspora in the Ironbound neighborhood of Newark as well as other cities in Northern New Jersey such as Elizabeth and Kearny. Holton and scholars argue overall that Lusophone Studies has not only received few scholarly attentions but also that centering on the Portuguese diaspora adds to historical understandings of 20th century immigration. In the case of New Jersey during the 1960s-1970s, Portuguese Americans as well as Portuguese-speaking peoples have contributed to cultural movements as urban politics, primarily in Newark. This book will serve as an in-depth look of the history of Portuguese Americans in Newark, which will support my research on their roles in Environmental issues. I will pull from the sources including from local institutions such as the Portuguese language Luso Americano paper as well as previous ethnographic research by scholars for Rutgers-Newark’s Ironbound Oral History Project in 2001.
Mulcahy, Maria Gloria. “The Portuguese of the United States from 1880 to 1990: Distinctiveness in Work Patterns across Gender, Nativity and Place.” ProQuest Dissertations and Theses. Ph.D., Brown University, 2003. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global (305346720). https://login.proxy.libraries.rutgers.edu/login?qurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.proquest.com%2Fdissertations-theses%2Fportuguese-united-states-1880-1990%2Fdocview%2F305346720%2Fse-2%3Faccountid%3D13626.
This dissertation provides a broad history and study of Portuguese in the US from 1880-1990. Mulcahy examines the socio-economic factors of Portuguese migration, specifically how unlike many other European immigrants were more financially-established due to their entrepreneurial mindset. Like Kimberly Da Costa Holton, Mulcahy states that Portuguese settlement represents a break from scholarship of immigration history, as the largest influx came after the 1960s. Through comparison to other ethnic European immigrants, such as Italians, Mulcahy also attributes the success of Portuguese settlement to their resistance to cultural assimilation. This dissertation is important for my work because it provides context of the Portuguese diaspora in the US, and is crucial in understanding how they function in society. This is especially useful when examining Portuguese residents in the Ironbound, many of whom were prominent business-owners and politicians, and how they contributed to their neighborhood.
Troiano, Laurel T. “Give Me a Ballpark Figure: Creating Civic Narratives Through Stadium Building,” n.d. 2017, https://rucore.libraries.rutgers.edu/rutgers-lib/55294/
This dissertation examines the history and politics behind stadium construction in Newark through the perspectives of urban residents. Troiano dedicates two sections on the controversy surrounding the construction of a baseball stadium in Riverbank Park in the late 90’s. In 1995, former Yankees player Rick Cerone cooperated with the Newark City Council to establish a minor league team in Newark through the construction of a new replacement stadium in Riverbank Park. Many of the concerns that were raised amongst residents and representatives of the Ironbound was the amount of traffic and lack of recreational space that the replacement park would bring. The fact that it was proposed as a baseball stadium was not favored by Ironbound residents, majority of whom were ethnic immigrants that played soccer. This source is important for my bibliography because it analyzes the background of stadiums as projects of urban development and renewal. It also highlights the role that SPARK and the Ironbound’s community organizations played in preserving Riverbank Park, as well as how residents reacted to this development.
Curvin, Robert. Inside Newark : Decline, Rebellion, and the Search for Transformation. Rivergate Regionals Collection. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2014. https://doi.org/10.36019/9780813565729.
– This book illustrates the socio-economic transformations of Newark between de-industrialization in the 1950s to urban renewal under the Cory Booker administration in the early 2000s. One of the major transformations that Curvin as an urban historian and Newark native discusses is developments in housing, commerce, sports, and recreation in the latter half of the 20th century. Like Mark Krasovic’s book, this book can support my research by providing historical context behind Newark’s development projects. While the Ironbound and the Riverfront Park developments are small mentions in the book, Curvin the construction of Newark’s sports venues such as the Prudential Center in 2007, which can serve as a comparative case study to Riverbank Park in the 90’s.
Krasovic, Mark. The Newark Frontier: Community Action in the Great Society. Historical Studies of Urban America. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2016. https://doi.org/10.7208/9780226352824.
This book examines the history of community activism in Newark during the 1960s. While my research is centered in the 1990’s, this book will still be useful for my framework on community activism and urban development in Newark post-WWII. It provides the historical background behind urban development and activism in the 1960s and 1970s that eventually influenced movements such as Environmental Justice in the 1980s and 1990s. It also traces the origins of groups such as the Ironbound Community Corporation, which was founded in 1969, as well as key actors in Newark social movements such as Nancy Zak and Arnold Cohen.
Ramos-Zayas, Ana Y. Street Therapists : Race, Affect, and Neoliberal Personhood in Latino Newark. Chicago ; University of Chicago Press, 2012. https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/S/bo12481485.html
This book is an ethnography that analyzes the complexities of social behavior and relations amongst Hispanic, Black, Brazilian, and Portuguese residents of the Ironbound. As an anthropologist and ethnologist, Ramos-Zayas argues that scholars can understand the “social history” and “political economy” of ethnic residents through the study of their identities and their relation to the spaces they occupy. While Ramos-Zayas throughout this book focuses more on Hispanic and Brazilian Latinos, she does discuss Iberians and older ethnic groups that settled in the Ironbound. The main ideas she focuses on are how Portuguese and Spanish immigrants not only defined the neighborhood as an ethnic enclave, but also how their businesses and culture contributed to revitalization of Newark’s economy between the 1960s to the present. While Latinos today make up the majority of the Ironbound’s population, the Iberian influences are still felt throughout the neighborhood and are marketed towards middle class consumers. When discussing specifically about the Portuguese, Ramos-Zayas is in conversation with Lusophone Studies scholars such as Kimberly Da Costa Holton when understanding why they were considered “good ethnics” or “ethnic technicians”. This book is important for my research because it explores the various socio-economic positions that Portuguese Ironbound residents occupied, especially when understanding the impact of their businesses.
Stephens, Thomas M. “Language Maintenance and Ethnic Survival: The Portuguese in New Jersey.” Hispania 72, no. 3 (1989): 716–20. https://doi.org/10.2307/343531.
This article is an ethnographic study of Portuguese communities and cultures in northern New Jersey with a focus on linguistics. Scholar Thomas M. Stephens argues that Portuguese Americans were able to retain their language and ethnic ties to their homeland while living in the US. Stephens illustrates how between the 1960s-1980s, Portuguese communities in Newark, Elizabeth, and Harrison kept their culture and language alive through various forms of media and social organizations. These include Portuguese-printed newspapers such as the Luso Americano in the Ironbound, Catholic Churches like Our Lady of Fatima in Elizabeth, Portuguese language schools and sports clubs in both cities. Despite many Portuguese moving to Newark and Elizabeth suburbs like Kearny, Watchung, etc during the 1980s, they were able to maintain their culture. This article illuminates not only methods of cultural preservation among ethnic groups in New Jersey, but also the socio-economic power that recent immigrant groups like the Portuguese had in the state.
Stevenson Jason Reich. “The Fire This Time: Development Conflict in Rebuilding Newark, NJ.” Harvard College, n.d. 2000 http://webatomics.com/jason/seniorthesis.html
This undergraduate thesis discusses the areas of conflict in venue development in Newark between the 1990’s to the early 2000s. Stevenson specifically looks at how Newark’s communities and organizations reacted to developments including Riverbank Park in the late 90’s, the NJPAC, and the Prudential Center in 2007. Like Troiano’s dissertation on stadium development, Stevenson’s dissertation will support my research by contextualizing urban development through the ground level perspectives.
Stevenson Jason Reich. “Arena Politics in Newark,” 2004. https://web.archive.org/web/20061112062402/http://webatomics.com/jason/newarkarena.pdf
This article expands on his prior undergraduate thesis on stadium politics in Newark. In this article however, Stephenson focuses more so on community leaders such as Augsto Amador, a Portuguese American councilman from the Ironbound who opposed then-Mayor Sharpe James on stadium construction. This was written in 2004, during the administration of Mayor James. While focusing on the Prudential Center, Stevenson’s article would serve as a point of comparison to the earlier development of Riverbank Park, especially when discussing the politics behind stadium construction.
Immergut, Matthew B., and Laurel D. Kearns. “When Nature Is Rats and Roaches: Religious Eco-Justice Activism in Newark, NJ.” Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture 6, no. 2 (2012): 176–95. https://doi.org/10.1558/jsrnc.v6i2.176.
This article discusses the role those religious institutions played in Environmental Justice in the Ironbound. Despite past scholarship stating that religious institutions were ore concerned with spiritual rather than environmental issues, the scholars instead argue that clergymen from churches such as St. Stephans Church and Our Lady of Fatima were essential actors against pollution in the Ironbound. Many clergymen helped found several community-based groups that are still active today, such as the Ironbound Community Corporation, Green-Faith, etc. Priests and pastors helped manage campaigns, hosted meetings to discuss pollution or development issues like the baseball diamond construction in Riverbank Park. This article is useful for my research because it foregrounds the moral leadership behind Environmental Justice in the Ironbound. The article is also relevant because the scholars credit the clergy, many of whom were Eastern Europeans that left Newark before the 1960s, over the Portuguese and Brazilians that came during the late 20th century. They dismiss Lusophone immigrants, stating that they were more concerned with work and finding employment than activism. Because the goal of this paper is to prove that Lusophone immigrants were involved in activism, I will be in direct conversation with this piece.