Hortencia’s father, José Pacheco Ribeiro, as a young man.
Bourne Mills, Hortencia’s first place of employment, circa 1931, at the age of fifteen.
“When we were old enough, my father would pull us out [of school] to work.”
Working girls at the Bourne Mills, circa 1928. Hortencia’s sister, Mary Pacheco Ribeiro, is at the far right.
“We all worked, everybody worked in the Bourne Mill.”
Hortencia’s brother, John Pacheco Ribeiro, strikes a comic pose for the camera, circa 1940s; behind him is one of the Bourne Mill Blocks, where the family resided from circa 1908 to 1924.
“When we were in the Bourne Mills Block, we didn’t even have electricity. It was … kerosene.”
Downtown Fall River following the devastating conflagration of February 2, 1928; a view looking north from City Hall tower.
“You could see it from my house. All the smoke and that.”
The Ribeiro family cottage at 582 State Avenue, Fall River; the family purchased this property circa 1932.
“We lived right on the state line. Here is Fall River right on this side, and the other sidewalk was Tiverton, Rhode Island.”
Hortencia’s mother, Mrs. José Pacheco Ribeiro, née Maria Amelia de Paiva, circa 1938.
“My mother, I used to adore my mother.”
Hortencia’s father, José Pacheco Ribeiro, circa 1938.
“…my father didn’t understand English. So we always had to talk Portuguese. When we used to talk English, my father would say, ‘Hey, speak Portuguese so I know what you are talking about.’ But after, he learned.”
Manuel Amaral (second from right) and his buddies during World War II.
“…he joined the National Guard [in 1940] so he could have a little bit of money for himself.”
Hortencia’s mother in the yard of the family residence at 582 State Avenue, circa 1940s.
“My mother was like me … a go-getter…. She knew what to do.”
Hortencia in the 1940s.
Mr. and Mrs. Manuel Amaral on their wedding day, March 7, 1942.
“My mother [said] I shouldn’t get married while [he was] in the service because [he] might die.”
Hortencia and Manuel as young newlyweds.
“’Honey,’ he used to call me Honey all the time.”
Firestone Rubber & Latex Products Company, Inc., Fall River, Massachusetts, circa 1956.
“I worked all over Firestone.”
Hortencia at work at Firestone Rubber & Latex Products Company, Fall River, Massachusetts, late 1940s or early 1950s.
A Firestone “big boss” in conversation with Hortencia:
“You seem like you like your job.”
“No, I don’t…. I have to do it, so I am doing it. It isn’t because I like it.”
Workers at Gamma Leather Company, Inc., 288 Plymouth Avenue, Fall River, Massachusetts, 1966; Hortencia referred to this company as the “Pocket Book Place.”
“I put them together - they used to sew them - I put them together …”
The former Kerr Thread Mills, Fall River, Massachusetts. Lyn Sportswear Company, Inc. operated from this location from circa 1962 to 1971.
“Lyn Sportswear, that’s one of the first shops I worked in.”
Hortencia posing with a negligee set in salmon rayon satin trimmed in beige machine-made lace that she wore in the 1940s; the garment was donated to the Fall River Historical Society in 2013.
Copyright 2023, Fall River Historical Society. All Rights Reserved.
