Exhibition and Lecture Featuring the Collection of the late Miguel Corte-Real

Born in Ponta Delgada, S. Miguel, Azores, to Luis de Figueiredo Lemos do Canto Corte-Real and Filomena M. da Conceição, Miguel de Figueiredo Corte-Real was the youngest son of an old aristocratic family. He was raised in Santa Maria, an island which always held a special place in his heart. In 1969, he immigrated to the United States with his wife and children and settled in New Bedford.

Unlike the majority of immigrants who arrive in the U.S. with little more than a suitcase of personal items, Miguel Corte-Real was able to bring along an extensive number of cherished family heirlooms and household items including a large number of books, manuscripts and other historical documents. Once established in his new country, he continued to add to his existing library and archive by collecting items associated with the presence of the Portuguese in the U.S. In 2008, he donated his personal library and archive to the Ferreira-Mendes Portuguese-American Archives asking that the collection receive the name of his father Luis de Figueiredo Côrte-Real.

Miguel Corte-Real’s library was the work of a lifetime and contains rare, and sometimes difficult to find volumes. Considered by some to be the best private collection of Açoriana outside of the Acores, it includes fictional works by Azorean authors and about the Azores; comprehensive histories of individual islands and of the archipelago; geographical and geological studies; monographs on various topics related to the Azores; and texts that document religious and cultural practices and rituals specific to the Azores. The Archival Collection includes personal correspondence; various scrapbooks; genealogical research; and Luso-American newspapers published in the last 30 years.

Dr. Gloria de Sá, Faculty Director
Ferreira-Mendes Portuguese American Archives

NOTE:

-The event is free, open to the public and includes light refreshments.
-Parking is available in Lot # 13. 

-(The entrance to the Ferreira-Mendes Portuguese-American Archives is located on the campus side of the Claire T. Carney Library. For access during library construction, from Lot 13, enter the library basement and proceed to the first floor, exit the building, and proceed to the right to the Archives entrance. For further information contact 508-999-8684 or email spacheco@umassd.edu.)