Gaining a Voice

As the Puerto Rican community in Hartford grew, individuals and groups organized and began work to ensure a better future for it. By the 1970s, the Puerto Rican community had gained a voice within the social, economic, and political life of Hartford through the work of political activists, social service agencies, and area churches (such as Sacred Heart and Iglesia Cristiana Pentecostal). The institutions and services they created still exist today.

Olga Mele, Helping Hand to All
They say to me, "Mrs. Mele, every time you come here, you come…with an army." I said…"So you see how great is the need." And then I used to tell them "Look, when the guy interview you, look at him in the face, because he thinks you're not interested in the job." …Before the interview I used to prepare them… I found a lot of people on the streets that said, "Mrs. Mele, you find me my first job."
Olga Mele

The kids in schools they didn't know English at all…they wouldn't talk, they wouldn't do nothing. So they say they said they were retarded. So I had to prove that they were not retarded… I went to…talk to the board.
Olga Mele Listen in English (48 KB MP3 - 757 KB WAV)

Already…since we arrived we were friends with Mrs. Olga Mele. She was always looking out [for us]… She lived on John Street. But see, when we came, she had some compadres that lived next door to us. Side by side in the same building… She was the kind of person who just as soon as she knew that a family had come from Puerto Rico, she went [to see them] right away, she introduced herself, and she had a great affection for you and she got to work if there were needs and always with all the families that came, that's the way we began to make a community.
Haydee Montalvo-Feliciano Listen in Spanish (99 KB MP3 - 3, 158KB WAV)

Going back to the opportunities for Puerto Ricans in the 50's, it was very difficult. For example, Mrs. Olga Mele, she had a process where she took someone who knew a little English [to a factory]. Then when they told her, "But he doesn't know English well," she told them, "But everything is manual and visual…yeah, this guy can learn [his job], he can communicate enough"…they took him. They gave him the job… After, she took two or three who didn't speak English… When they told her, "Oh, but they don't speak any English," she told them, "But the one I brought you last week can be their interpreter." So three more entered. And that's how we continued.
Haydee Montalvo-Feliciano

Investing in Your Community
…The new thing is now we're here to stay, we're not going anywhere. And since you're here to stay you build, you invest, and you get involved in whatever is there.
Carmen Malavé Listen in English (18 KB MP3 - 284 KB WAV)

The Puerto Rican Parade
…The first parade was held October 4…1964. We had meetings in June and July and so on and organized it for the first parade to take place in October. In fact, our speaker was today Senator Dodd, he was the main speaker of that day…we marched through Main Street to Dillon's Park.
Florencio Morales

The Puerto Rican parade was established to bring the attention to the Puerto Rican people to register and vote. That was their main theme…to register and vote… Maria did a great job in registering…to make sure that they voted and that their vote counted. And that's how…we were able to get the…city council person…and the board of education, Maria was the first [Puerto Rican] board of education [member] elected.
Jesus Malavé Listen in English (54 KB MP3 - 851 KB WAV)

The purpose of forming the parade was to create inspiration in the non-Puerto Rican community, to create awareness [to the politicians] of the…total community…it's like, "we're here, we are not going anywhere, so you might as well take us in, help us, or else you're going to suffer the consequences [we are not going to vote for you]."
Florencio Morales

The idea of the parade was that there were communities but…they didn't know each other, for example there was Waterbury, there was Meriden, New Britain…Bridgeport, New Haven, there were little communities but…no one knew each other. So with the idea of getting more involved in politics, register more people…began the idea of the parade…
Mariano Cortéz Listen in Spanish (63 KB MP3 - 1, 991 KB WAV)

Affirmative Action
Our job was to go there, "Mr. Employer, I am here from the Department of Defense representing the Affirmative Action Program. You have a big contract with the federal government. You make bombs for the federal government, do you not?" "Oh, yes I do." "All right, so you reap enough…not employing the …people who represent your community." "What do you mean by that?" I said, How many blacks you have here?" "Well blacks don't apply here." "Well, you have to see that they apply." "How many women you have in the high-paying jobs?" "Oh, well, the women do not like to be bosses." "Well, you have to make them like it." So our job…at the beginning was to indoctrinate, it was to teach what affirmative action was or is, and what equal opportunity is.
Florencio Morales Listen in English (139 KB MP3 - 2, 225 KB WAV)

María Sánchez, Godmother of the Puerto Rican Community
Overall…it's progress but it hasn't been easy, it's been because of people that have sacrificed and …given their time and their efforts to make life better for the other people behind them…like María [Sánchez].
Jesus Malavé

My sister was a leader way back since she was a little girl.
José Colón

Through the church she met this guy… This guy had a store that was going to be for sale… It was a candy store, newspaper, magazine, and things like that. So she talked to me about it and I said, "It's a good idea but…would you like to be involved in business?" Because she wasn't a business lady at all… I said, "Do you know what a store is? You have to get up in the morning and open it, you've got to stay the whole day there…you're not that type of person." …But she said…"People can come here, and I can help them."
José Colón

When she was involved in the store, that was just like a…city hall, where everybody who have a problem would come to her and she would either help them, saying, "This is the proper way of doing it," or she'd call me and say, "Can you stay here, I have to take this person…to the welfare, see if we can find a way to help this person."
José Colón Listen in English (49 KB MP3 - 386 KB WAV)

So she decided that she was going to get involved in politics, she called me and she said…"What do you think?" …[I said], "Politicians, they're good and they're bad, and you're always good… You're going to …have two different personalities and you're not that type of person." Once more…she said, "Well, there's a need and I have to do it."
José Colón

The Church and the Community
In 1957, well, there was this priest, Father Andrew J. Cooney… He was at St. Peter's, and there he saw the needs of the community and he had an ongoing conversation with Archbishop O'Brien… The archbishop assigned him to Sacred Heart… He would go visit the [tobacco] camps and he saw the needs. So that was when he got the idea to begin an office to serve the community… The first office was opened which was the San Juan Catholic Center on Albany Avenue…
Haydee Montalvo-Feliciano

Everything was Sacred Heart Church… If people needed a job...they would go there and…say, "Father, I need…a reference…for this job." Any kind of job. And right away… They'd type a little letter there and I always remember…he always gave him a referral.
Carmen Malavé

Almost all the organizations that started at the beginning came out of Sacred Heart Church, because that was where we all got together for the Mass. The priest began to give Masses in Spanish. He died in Puerto Rico - Father Cooney. The Masses began in the basement and then they brought them upstairs.
Mariano Cortéz

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