Henry Barros was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts, where he lived for most of his life. He served in the US Army during the Korean War and was a member of the Cape Verdean American Veterans Association. Barros also coordinated the Cape Verdean Recognition Parade for 18 years and was a teacher at Roosevelt Junior High School. The Moby Dick Chapter of the National Junior Honor Society of Roosevelt Junior High School was renamed the Henry J. Barros Chapter of the National Junior Honor Society in his honor. He died on November 20, 2018.
Manuel Lopes was born in New Bedford, MA in 1922 to immigrants from São Nicolau, Cabo Verde. He grew up on a farm in Dartmouth, MA. During World War II, Lopes served in the US Army Air Force and trained to become an airplane mechanic. Lopes was an active member of the Cape Verdean American Veterans Association for over 50 years, where he served in various leadership roles. He also helped establish the Cape Verdean Vets Education Foundation, which awards Cape Verdean Americans annual achievement and scholarship awards. Beginning in 1972, he was the chairperson of the Cape Verdean Recognition Committee in New Bedford. This committee was formed to increase awareness of Cape Verdean culture and identity, and it led to the first Cape Verdean Recognition Day Celebration in the United States on July 8, 1973. He chaired this committee for over 20 years. Lopes died on October 3, 2006.
The collection includes a wide variety of papers from many Cape Verdean organizations, with a broad focus on promoting the cultural heritage of Cape Verdeans mainly in and around New Bedford, MA. The majority of the collection is concerned with the Cape Verdean American Veterans Association, its programs and celebrations, and its collaborations with other Cape Verdean organizations. The collection includes pamphlets and newsletters from various Cape Verdean organizations, as well as newspaper articles on community events and celebrations. The collection also includes photographs of some Cape Verdean Recognition Day parades and recipients of various awards.
Researchers are advised to contact Rhode Island College Special Collections for questions regarding permissions to reproduce, distribute, or otherwise publish material from this collection. Although Rhode Island College has physical ownership of the collection, it does not necessarily hold literary rights. It is up to the researcher to determine the owners of the literary rights and to obtain any necessary permissions from them.
The collection is open for research. Access to the audio reels is limited to the digitized reproductions, which are available for listening in the Special Collections Reading Room.
Henry Barros and Manuel Lopes collection, MSS-0083, Special Collections, James P. Adams Library, Rhode Island College.
The collection is roughly arranged alphabetically by organization name.
Provenance of this collection is unknown, however it was in the holdings of Special Collections prior to 2019 and was likely donated by both Manuel Lopes and Henry Barros.
The collection was arranged and described by Special Collections staff prior to 2019. The collection was further described by Special Collections intern Kevin Eian Bennett in 2025, with further description provided by Veronica L. Denison, Digital Archivist and Special Collections Librarian, at that time.
Special Collections also holds the Manuel Lopes papers, MSS-0063. For other collections relating to Cape Verde in Special Collections, please review the Cape Verdean related collections topic guide.
Some materials were removed from this collection and incorporated into the Cape Verdean periodical collection (MSS-0134) and the Cape Verdean subject files collection (MSS-0077).
The open reel audio tapes have been digitized, however they are not available online.