SOUTHERNERS INVITED TO BRAZIL
(Please be aware this post was written in 2003 and published at that time in the Houston Chronicle (Houston, Texas) newspaper. Some of the news in this post, therefore, may not be current. Current and future posts on this blog may revisit and update news on this and other posts on this blog. If you have questions and/or suggestions, please send Mic a note using the comment page -Don’t forget to use the orange “subscribe” button to receive new posts-Thanks, Mic)
Americans, particularly Southerners, are invited to attend this years’ Festa Confederado in Santa Barbara d’Oeste in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Celebrated this year on Sunday April 13 the Confederate Festival serves as the annual fund raiser for the maintenance of the Campo Cemetery, burial place of former Americans since the 1860’s. People from all over Brazil and the world come to the festival to enjoy Southern food and music and learn about Confederate immigration to Brazil.
The Festa Confederado is sponsored by the Fraternity of American Descendants and features young men and women folk dancers dressed in Confederate uniforms and 1860’s dresses dancing to Civil War era music. Very prominently displayed and paraded on the festival grounds are flags from every Southern state, the Confederate Battle Flag and the United States flag.
Few Americans realize the largest exodus from the United States occurred between 1865 and 1900 when over 9,000 people immigrated to Brazil. Most of the immigrants left the United States shortly after the Civil War and included former Confederates, their families and their former slaves.
Looking for a new life in a new land these settlers hailed from all the Southern States, including Texas. They carried names familiar to all Texans including Carr, Pyles, Cobb, Bryant, Perkins, Hardeman, White, McKnight, Kerr, McMullan, Norris, Anderson, Townsend and many, many more.
After the Civil War Southerners were courted by Dom Pedro II, Emperor of Brazil, to come to Brazil to help build a textile industry based on cotton. In addition to cotton the Americans introduced Brazilians to horse drawn plows, fried chicken, pecans, corn on the cob, watermelon, the Baptist religion and Free Masonry.
To learn more about the Confederados including some of their names and where in Brazil they settled, visit the Brazilian Sons of Confederate Veterans website at http://www.scv.org/Camp1653/index.htm .
PARKE IN BROWNWOOD
Howard Payne University’s Douglas MacArthur Academy of Freedom will host a free all day genealogical seminar featuring Paula Perkins Parke of Houston. The seminar will be held Saturday March 1 at the University’s Academy of Freedom lecture hall. For more information contact Dr. Robert Mangrum at 915-649-8706 or email him at rmangrum@hputx.edu.
LEARN GENEALOGY
Offered by Leisure Learning, Mic Barnette will teach an introductory course on conducting family history research. Roots of Genealogy-How To Research Your Family Tree will be held from 7 P.M. to 10 P.M. Tuesday March 4 at Leisure Learning’s 2990 Richmond Ave campus. The following week the class will tour Clayton Genealogical Library and conduct on-site census research. For more information and to register, contact Leisure Learning at 713-529-4414.
BOOKSHELF NEWS
Filmed entirely at the Festa Confederado in Santa Barbara d’Oeste Brazil a 48 minute video The Confederate Flag Still Flies in the South explains the story of the Southern immigration to Brazil through the words of its festival-goers. Speakers in the video tell their stories with Southern accents, Brazilian accents and in their native Brazilian with translators speaking English.
This intriguing video is available from Albert II at confederados_usa@hotmail.com or from the producer Mablan Entertainment at http://www.MablanEntertainment.com
In addition, the Fraternidade Descendancia Americana is selling Judith MacKnight Jones’ Soldado Descansa! A North American Epic in Brazil. Written in Brazilian Portuguese this book is considered one of the best histories of North American immigration to Brazil. Included in the book are lineages of many Brazilian families with Southern roots.
For directions on how to purchase this book visit http://www.scv.org/Camp1653/index.htm and read Hot News .
