Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute celebrates six-year anniversary at Fresno State

FRESNO, Calif. (KGPE) – The Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute celebrated its six-year anniversary at Fresno State.  

There are 350,000 Portuguese Americans in California, which is more than any other state.

“For more than a century Portuguese migrants, many of those from the Azores,” said Consul-General of Portugal in San Francisco Filipe Ramalheira. “Working the land, building businesses.”

Those migrants are pursuing the American dream in California and the Central Valley.

“The Portuguese have long been present. Well beyond their borders,” said FLAD President Nuno Marais Sarmento.

This week at the Fresno State Library, PBBI celebrated its six-year anniversary.

Portuguese Author Katherine Vaz made the trip home as the keynote speaker. Her romance novel, “Above the Salt” is about a Portuguese refugee from the Azores; it made People Magazine’s book of the week.

“I am following the love story based on a real man who fought in the Civil War courted a woman from the Lincoln household and wandered the west for 50 years before he came across her again,” said Vaz.

She hopes to inspire more Portuguese Americans, especially the younger generation to listen and share stories.

“If there is one thing I would love for Portuguese families, is to share their families with each other and the younger generation because we do forget them. If you don’t write them down, you don’t record them they will be lost.”

You can find her book here.