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Regional Oral History Office University of California The Bancroft Library Berkeley, California José do Couto Rodrigues: An Oral History Interviews conducted by Don Warrin in 2013 Copyright © 2013 by The Regents of the University of California ii Since 1954 the Regional Oral History Office has been interviewing leading participants in or well-placed witnesses to major events in the development of Northern California, the West, and the nation. Oral History is a method of collecting historical information through tape-recorded interviews between a narrator with firsthand knowledge of historically significant events and a well-informed interviewer, with the goal of preserving substantive additions to the historical record. The tape recording is transcribed, lightly edited for continuity and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewee. The corrected manuscript is bound with photographs and illustrative materials and placed in The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley, and in other research collections for scholarly use. Because it is primary material, oral history is not intended to present the final, verified, or complete narrative of events. It is a spoken account, offered by the interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is reflective, partisan, deeply involved, and irreplaceable. ********************************* All uses of this manuscript are covered by a legal agreement between The Regents of the University of California and José do Couto Rodrigues dated August 3, 2013. The manuscript is thereby made available for research purposes. All literary rights in the manuscript, including the right to publish, are reserved to The Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley. Excerpts up to 1000 words from this interview may be quoted for publication without seeking permission as long as the use is non-commercial and properly cited. Requests for permission to quote for publication should be addressed to The Bancroft Library, Head of Public Services, Mail Code 6000, University of California, Berkeley, 94720-6000, and should follow instructions available online at http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/ROHO/collections/cite.html It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows: José do Couto Rodrigues “José do Couto Rodrigues: An Oral History” conducted by Don Warrin in 2013, Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 2013. iii José do Couto Rodrigues, 2013 iv José do Couto Rodrigues José and I spoke in two sessions in May of 2013. He talked about his upbringing on the island of São Miguel, Azores, about his parents, and his father’s long absence in Bermuda before he was born. We discussed his education both on the island and later in California, where he obtained an MBA from San Francisco State while also taking on a leadership role in more than one campus- wide organization. He later married and entered into upper-management at Hertz and National Car Rental, before working for the environmental Green Team of San Jose. He also talked about his extensive work in Portuguese radio in California. Our second session was dedicated mainly to a discussion of his many community activities, including his work with the Portuguese Athletic Club and Portuguese Heritage Publications. Don Warrin, Berkeley, 2013 v Table of Contents−José Rodrigues Interview 1: May 8, 2013 [Audiofile 1] 1 He discusses his origins on the island of São Miguel, Azores − His father’s long absence in Bermuda and the effect on the family − Difficulties of Azoreans in Bermuda − Father’s return and various agricultural enterprises − José’s education on the island − Emigration to California − His continuing education, including various activities at San Francisco State [Audiofile 2] 24 Leadership roles of the Associated Students and International Students Association at the university − MBA − Marriage − Management experience at Hertz and National Car Rental − Then the environmental Green Team of San Jose − More discussion of growing up on the island Interview 2: May 23, 2013 [Audiofile 3] 46 We talk about his various community activities − PAPA (Portuguese American Political Action − Cabrillo Savings Bank − IDES, San Rafael − Portuguese Athletic Club − Portuguese Heritage Publications − CASE (Catholic Association for Seminary Education) − City Year of San Jose − Green Team − Giaretto Institute vi 1 Interview #1 May 8, 2013 Begin Audio File 1 Rodrigues_José_01_05-08-13_stereo.mp3 01-00:00:14 Warrin: So here we are in the home of José Rodrigues in San Mateo. It is today, May— 01-00:00:41 Rodrigues: Eighth. 01-00:00:43 Warrin: May 8. And this is Don Warrin and ready to start our interview. José, if you could give me your full name and date of birth. 01-00:00:58 Rodrigues: José do Couto Rodrigues. January 2, 1944. 01-00:01:04 Warrin: And whereabouts were you born? 01-00:01:06 Rodrigues: I was born in the town of Lomba da Maia, São Miguel, Azores. 01-00:01:19 Warrin: And could you tell me something about your parents? 01-00:01:26 Rodrigues: My parents were both natives of the same town and from a very large family in town. My father from the Cordeiro family, which is almost half the village. My mother from the Clementino side, which a very interesting name, Clementino, which is only found in the village of Lomba da Maia. There’s no other place in any islands anywhere. I’ve researched but I can’t figure out how it started and I went all the way back to the 1800s. They married, they had four children. When my oldest brother was born, about that time my father emigrated to Bermuda on a labor contract. At that time was very common, immigration. Where he was in Bermuda for thirteen years. From 1930 to 1943, then he returned home and bought a lot of land and then he made the living. 01-00:02:25 Warrin: And he was there alone? 01-00:02:28 Rodrigues: Alone. Absolutely. 01-00:02:30 Warrin: And so your older brother would have been a lot older than you. 01-00:02:33 Rodrigues: He’s thirteen years older. Yeah, thirteen years older than me. 2 01-00:02:36 Warrin: And you were the second son? 01-00:02:38 Rodrigues: I am the new wave. The first of the new wave. 01-00:02:42 Warrin: I see. And what was life like for your mother during those years? 01-00:02:48 Rodrigues: Very difficult as a woman with a child. She moved into her parents home, which at that time were getting also up in age. And so my brother was raised with my grandfather. And my father did not come home for thirteen years. And I asked him a question one time, “Why?” because I knew other people that done it. [phone ringing] I’m sorry. Let me see if I can mute this. I’ll do it right. I think I got it. I said, “You know, all that time away from home.” And he said, “Because wages were so low that if you had to pay the ship to come and go, and was not a day ship, you would spend all your savings coming.” And his brother was one of the other people that did that. And it was funny because—funny in a way of saying—is that my father, after thirteen years, had committed enough savings and land where he was an independent man and had a very decent home and provided education for his children, while the people that were with him, most of them did not because the money was spent— 01-00:04:06 Warrin: Going back and forth? 01-00:04:07 Rodrigues: —going back and forth. Yeah. 01-00:04:11 Warrin: And how did that affect your parents’ relationship? He was gone for thirteen years. That’s an awful long time. 01-00:04:18 Rodrigues: It affected. It affected my oldest brother more than my parents because he was raised until thirteen years old without knowing my father at all. It affected my mother in a different way, even though I never detected any animosity between them. But she became very much of a partner because when he was there she would be the one buying the land, the pieces of land. She was the businessperson in the island, he was the earner in the labor contract in Bermuda. So he became— 01-00:04:56 Warrin: So she was taking on the role of both parents and also the business aspect, as well? 01-00:05:06 Rodrigues: Correct. 3 01-00:05:07 Warrin: I know I’ve seen that in my research in the West on the ranches, where the woman often takes on that sort of role of businessperson, running not only the household but part of the business. Sometimes they’re better educated. I don’t know in your— 01-00:05:28 Rodrigues: That was also true because my dad never went to school. My dad started working at eleven years old in the place that now is famous for the tea plantation, Gorreana in São Miguel. They were cutting down the wood and at that age, when they fell the logs, his job was to take the small branches out. So he walked every day from Lomba da Maia there, which is probably about twelve kilometers, to earn a little wage. My dad did not have shoes until he was eighteen. 01-00:06:02 Warrin: I was just going to ask that. 01-00:06:04 Rodrigues: So he never went one day to school. Neither did all his brothers. And my mother went to school for a while but in those days, there was still that thing of girls don’t have to learn as much as men if they went, and so there was not a lot of push.

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