Between Race and Ethnicity: Cape Verdean American Immigrants, 1860-1965 (Statue of Liberty Ellis Island)

Cape Verdean Americans are the only major group of Americans to have made the voyage from Africa to the United States voluntarily. Their homeland, a drought-stricken archipelago off the west coast of Africa, had long been colonized by the Portuguese. Arriving in New England first as crew members of whaling vessels, these Afro-Portuguese immigrants later came as permanent settlers in their own packet ships. They were employed in the cranberry industry, on the docks, and as domestic workers.