Dr. Da Silva Loves Bristol!
 From "Bristol in the 20th Century" - Special Supplement
Published by the Bristol Phoenix, East Bay Newspapers
1 Bradford St. Bristol, Rhode Island, 02809,
U. S. A. Tel (401) 253-6000 Fax (401) 253-6055

One of the oldest newspaper in the United States of America 163rd Year
Publisher: Matthew Hayes          Editor: Victor Paul Alvarez
Thursday, October 21, 1999

Bristol's History as told by its residents

The Portuguese doctor who fell in love with Bristol
 By Victor Paul Alvarez, Editor


Dr. Manuel Luciano da Silva
has made Bristol his home

Well-known throughout the town of Bristol and the states Portuguese community at large, Dr. Manuel Luciano da Silva retired from his practice of internal medicine at the Bristol County Medical Center last year.

Since then, he hasn't stopped. The civic-minded historian has his own website, a basement filled with enough archives to constitute a working library, and regular lecture appointments with colleges and community groups throughout New England.

He is a member of the American Medical Association, the Rhode Island Medical Society, the Bristol County Medical Society and the Portuguese-American Health Professional Association. He is also a member of the Bristol Historical Society, the Portuguese Geographic Society of Lisbon, the Portuguese-American Federation, Portuguese Continental Union, Knights of Corte Reais and the Dom Luiz Filipe Beneficial Association.

Where were you born and when did you come to Bristol?

I am 73 years old. I was born on Sept 5, 1926, in the north part of Portugal, Vale de Cambra. The village at the time in 1926 had 92 people, I was number 93. I was eight and a half years old when I first saw the first automobile. My village had no electricity, no roads, no car, nothing.

We had plenty of cow manure and plenty of other animals.
At eight and a half I moved to the city of Porto, the city of port wine, the second-largest city in Portugal.

In 1946 I came with my mother and my brother to Brooklyn, New York. I entered NYU, graduated in Biology. When my father died I went back to Portugal, graduated from the Coimbra Medical School in Portugal. I finished that in 1957, and I returned to the United States to continue my post-graduate training. In 1963, I came to Bristol to the Bristol County Medical Center.

So you arrived in Bristol right before the cultural uprisings in the 1960s. Talk to me about that. What was Bristol like in 1963, what were your first impressions of it?

My first impression was that Bristol was a beautiful town. I could see by the buildings on Hope Street that the city had some kind of renaissance. I did not know at that time Bristol was 14,000 people. And I did not know that close to 70 percent of the population in Bristol was of Portuguese extraction.

At that time, as a medical doctor, we could not advertise on the newspaper, radio and television. In order for me to be known, I used the rule of five pps. I went to see the police, the press, the priest, the people, and I went to see the pharmacy. This gave me an opportunity to contact the people and the majority were Portuguese Americans. I went to see Mr. Bosworth Sr. at the Phoenix, and the next week he put my picture on the front page with a story.

What did that say to you about Bristol, a town where the newspaper would put you on the front page to welcome you to town?

I lived six years in New York, I lived four years in Boston, big cities. I was brought up in a small village. Coming to Bristol, I felt so much more at ease than living in New York or living in Boston; with the beauty of the water and the trees. One thing that fascinated me the most, aside from the buildings, were the trees. I was simply amazed how many trees we had here on the streets. There was a certain respect here for the trees. Another thing that impressed me was the structure, you could see that whoever sat down to design the architectural plan of the city had to be smart.

So you appreciated the physical structure of the town?

Very much. That impressed me, the display of the entire town.

Talk to me about the 1960s. Was the counter-culture movement in the rest of the country palpable in Bristol?

I saw everything. I saw 300,000 people naked, physically and spiritually. So the 60s were noticeable in Bristol because of these people that I saw that were involved with drugs. I even lost some of the people that were involved with drugs. I saw a really dramatic situation. Of course, with the impact of the Vietnam War, letšs not forget the Vietnam War. As a matter of fact that soldier Borges, who was the first individual from Bristol that died in Vietnam, he was my patient. I examined him about five weeks before he went to Vietnam, and he was killed there.

If I look back, it was a sad period for the American people. No question about that. The hippies, the long hair, the drugs, that was just an expression of frustration. Even young strong men were called for the armed forces and to go to Vietnam. Why? Why do this? Why give your life and your body to an objective like that. I saw the frustration all around.

You have seen generations of children grow up in front of you. Did you see noticeable changes in people here through the decades? Did you see the changes from the 60s to the 70s?

The 70s certainly were a period where the American people were sort of rethinking things. At that time I was paying attention to my sons. But in the 70s, the big thing that happened in Bristol, and some people donšt realize it, was the beginning of the Portuguese page in the Bristol Phoenix. It had a tremendous impact in the Portuguese community. Its history for generations to study. A newspaper has to be the mirror image of the community, and the Portuguese page really is the mirror image of the Portuguese-speaking community in Bristol.

How did the Portuguese people feel about that page when it was started?

It gave them information about the Portuguese traditions, the holidays and the customs. It gives information about the happenings in Portugal that pertain to the immigrants here. It gives them information about the activities of the clubs, activities of the church.

What have you learned from your life in Bristol in the last 30 years and where do you think Bristol is going to go in the future?

My best wishes is for Bristol to not change. On Oct 11, the earth attained 6 billion human beings. Bristol, when I came, was 14,000; now its 25,000. We are still growing. But we donšt have any skyscrapers. We donšt have high rise apartment houses.  The city of Bristol is so well balanced in its beauty in the streets. The Portuguese came here and they cleaned up all the dilapidated buildings. We donšt have any ghettos in Bristol, nowhere. Because the Portuguese Americans clean up. They painted their houses, they provided the gardens. They are clean, hard-working people.

Now, the Yankees are dying out. The Italians also have their apex; the Italians are now the professionals, educators, lawyers, doctors, architects. The Portuguese are the ones that are coming up. Who controls the town? The ones who have the real estate. The Yankees had it, then you had the Italians, now its the Portuguese. Who has the real estate? You look on Hope Street, who's buying those houses? The Portuguese.

This is the reason why Bristol is, in my estimation, a typical Mediterranean town. The largest parish in town is the Portuguese church. We have the Dom Luiz Filipe Society, the oldest Portuguese/American organization in the nation. It was established and created for the purpose of helping the immigrants.

You obviously love this town.

I like Bristol so much ... Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Life means health, as a doctor I contributed in a positive manner for the better health of Bristol. And pursuit of happiness, I attained all those three here in Bristol.

I love this town. I love the people, the people love me. Some might not, they don't know whether to hate me or admire my leadership. It happens with anybody that has the qualities of leadership.

Behind as Successful Man there is always a Good Woman!

 

 

Dr. Da Silva and his wife Sílvia Jorge da Silva, when he received the 12th Peter Francisco Award from the Portuguese Continental Union, in 1995.

The first recipient of this Award was President John F. Kennedy. Others were writer John Dos Passos, Senator Claiborne Pell and Cardinal Medeiros.

 

 

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