HUDSON, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — A new mural in Hudson is paying tribute to the town's large Portuguese population.
Located at 178 Main St., the mural was commissioned by the Business Improvement District and painted by artist Paula Frechette. It depicts people from Santa Maria in the Azores archipelago immigrating to Hudson, where many worked in the town's shoe factories during the 19th and 20th centuries.
The mural features Santa Maria's church and lighthouse, women walking down the road carrying loaves of bread on their heads, and factory workers making shoes, as well as both the Portuguese and American flags.
"It sends a message," said Silvino Cabral, who owns the building on which the mural was painted. "We did a lot in this town, we're part of this town. It tells a story by looking at it."
Cabral, a Santa Maria native who came to the United States when he was 13, noticed a lot of young people have taken an interest in the mural.
"It's important to keep up culture, where their family came from and what they did," Cabral said. "It's an educational mural as well."
WBZ's Kim Tunnicliffe (@KimWBZ) reports.
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