© The New Bedford Whaling Museum [1981.61.725]

By the end of the nineteenth century, men and women from Cape Verde arrived in great numbers. Their immigration continued until the restrictive laws of 1921 closed the door to non-Europeans. Between 1860 and 1920, about 20,000 Cape Verdeans made their way to New Bedford. They worked in the textile mills and the cranberry bogs. These immigrants arrived in New Bedford on October 5, 1914. The 155 passengers had come from Fogo Island.