The former Richard Borden Manufacturing Company, Fall River, Massachusetts, as it appeared in the 1970s; Atlas Manufacturing Company, curtain manufacturers, 288 Plymouth Avenue, was located in the building in the upper left corner of the photograph.
“I went and worked at the Atlas Curtain.”
Delores’ mother, Mrs. Seraphine Peter Silvia, née Virginia Rapoza Salgado, with her youngest child, Margaret Silvia, circa 1941.
“I shared a bed with my sister.”
Delores Silvia, circa 1945; her mother made her banana curls using rags.
“I was brought up old-fashioned, you know.”
Delores’ father, Seraphine Peter Silvia, at work on the farm owned by George Sousa Magan, 405 Nanaquaket Road, Tiverton, Rhode Island, circa early 1940s; the Silvia family resided on the property.
“My father worked on the farm. He did farm work – milking cows, cultivating the land, and all of that … the milk came with the job.”
Delores’ parents and two of her siblings in a snapshot taken on the farm owned by George Sousa Magan, 405 Nanaquaket Road, Tiverton, Rhode Island, circa early 1940s; the Silvia family resided on the property. Standing, left to right: Delores’ father, Seraphine Peter Silvia; her eldest brother, Alphonse “Al” Peter Silvia; her mother, née Virginia Rapoza Salgado. Front row, left to right: her sister, Margaret Silvia; Delores.
“Back then, when we got a job, the house came with the job. You didn’t pay any rent because that came with the job.”
Delores Silvia, circa 1945
Santo Christo Church, 240 Columbia Street, Fall River, Massachusetts, circa 1930s; the oldest church in the city established to serve the Portuguese community, its origins can be traced to 1876.
“I went to Santo Christo Church. I took [First Holy] Communion in Santo Christo Church, [the sacrament of] confirmation, [and] I got married in Santo Christo Church.”
The Susan H. Wixon Elementary School, 263 Hamlet Street, Fall River, Massachusetts.
“And then I went to the … Wixon … School.”
Delores’ family residence, 616 Third Street, Fall River, Massachusetts, as it appeared in 1980; the building was constructed with four tenements for housing mill workers, circa 1868. The Silvia moved to an apartment on the second floor in 1950.
“My aunt [Mrs. Manuel Rapozo Salgado, née Catherine R. Medeiros] bought a house on Third Street, and that’s where we lived.”
Delores’ posing with her parents on the day of her graduation from the Susan B. Wixon Grammar School, Fall River, Massachusetts, 1953. Left to right: Her father, Seraphine Peter Silvia; Delores; and her mother, née Virginia Rapoza Salgado.
“I graduated from there in [1953] … I went to work.”
The former Union Mill, Pleasant Street, Fall River, Massachusetts, as it appeared in 1934. Delores was first employment in 1953 at Pleasant Curtain Company, 237 Pleasant Street, on the second floor of the building depicted in the far right of the photograph. Several years later she worked at K. & G. Manufacturing Company, Inc., dress manufacturers, 273 Pleasant Street, which was located in the approximate center of the photograph.
“I worked, I started working at the Pleasant Curtain first … and I worked there a long time.”
Delores casually posing on a Packard automobile, circa early 1950s.
A Holy Ghost Procession, Fall River, Massachusetts, circa 1950s; the Festas do Espirito Santo plays an important role in the lives of devout Azoreans and Azorean-Americans.
“Oh, yes, we went to those processions. I remember … my grandmother would make the home-made sweet bread, and wrap it up … and tie it with red ribbon … so I could take it to church.”
Delores’ mother and maternal grandmother. Left to right: Mrs. Louiz “Luis” Rapoza Salgado née Margarida “Margaret” Soares; her daughter, Mrs. Seraphine Peter Silvia; née Virginia Rapoza Salgado.
“My grandmother was a stay-at-home wife, she stood home taking care of us.”
621 Third Street, Fall River, Massachusetts, where Delores’ future husband, James “Jimmy” Francis Almeida, Jr. resided with his parents and two sisters; the mansard roof structure was constructed in 1889 with accommodations for five families. The Almeida family occupied an apartment on the first floor.
“My husband lived across the street from me.”
Delores and Jimmy in a snapshot taken on Third Street, Fall River, Massachusetts, circa 1950s.
“No, we didn’t date too much back then. It was at the fence, our dating was at the fence.”
Delores and Jimmy dancing at the Ponta Delgada Club, 31 Shove Street, Tiverton, Rhode Island, circa 1950s.
“I said to my mother, ‘He wants to get a chow mein sandwich.’ ‘You’d better take your sister with you’ – we always had to have a sister with us, couldn’t go alone.”
Delores in a 1950’s Christmas snapshot, decades later, she still remembered her outfit:
“Navy dress with a taffeta skirt, rhinestone necklace.”
Delores, at far right, folding curtains with two unidentified co-workers at Atlas Manufacturing Company, 288 Plymouth Avenue, Fall River, Massachusetts, circa late 1950s.
“I folded curtains … we go to the table and fold it, and then put it in packages for the different sizes.”
Sts. Peter and Paul Church, Snell Street, corned Dover Street, Fall River, Massachusetts.
“When I got married, I also went to Sts. Peter and Paul.”
Delores as Santa Claus, hamming it up at a Christmas party at Novelty Boys, Wash Suit Company, 164 Pleasant Street, Fall River, Massachusetts, circa 1960. Delores’ friend and co-worker, Teresa Sousa, who was the wife of her cousin, David Sousa, is standing, second from the left.
“A friend of mine [Teresa Sousa] … spoke … and I got the job.”
Delores’ friend and co-worker, Teresa Sousa, who was the wife of her cousin, David Sousa, at a Christmas party at Novelty Boys, Wash Suit Company, 164 Pleasant Street, Fall River, Massachusetts, circa 1960.
“Yes, we were in the union.”
Mr. & Mrs. James Francis Almeida, Jr. on their wedding day, May 30, 1956. Standing left to right: the groom’s brother-in-law, Joseph George Andre Cormier; the groom’s sister; Mrs. Joseph George Andre Cormier, née Patricia Ann Almeida; the groom; the groom’s sister, Natalie Almeida. Seated, left to right: the groom’s father, James Francis Almeida aka “Jimmy the barber,” Delores; the groom’s mother, née Harriet Pacheco.
“We [courted] two years, two years; then we got married.”
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