Information provide in this web-page was a compendium made by Michael Fondacaro
,one of the Committee members
Also, Click Here to check the Socioeconomic Status of Latinos in New York State
NUESTRA HISTORIA
In the 137 years between those tabulations, much happened to bring those numbers to where they are today. A great deal of the documentation of the early
history of Latinos in Upstate was done earlier this decade by Deb Escobar, a teacher at Guilderland High School, near Albany.
While the population would increase incrementally through the next seven decades, growth was obvious in the Buffalo area. Evidence of that growth included
the formation of Las Amigas Leales and Los Buenos Vecinos in the early days, the Spanish American Club in the 1920s, and in the 1940s the Junta Patriótica
Mexicana, the Central Social Club Mexicano and the Club Latino Norteamericano de Mujeres. The spread of Latinos might have been small, but it was far and
wide, In the North Country, Spaniards began arriving in the early 20th Century to work in the mines.
In the 1940s, an influx of braceros was notable as manpower was needed on the homefront during the war effort. While many left, some stayed, and were
joined by an influx of Puerto Ricans in Amsterdam and the Mohawk Valley to work in the carpet mills and glove factories; and on the migrant circuit in the
Syracuse and Buffalo areas. In subsequent years, Cubans would flee the regime of Fidel Castro.
The Olivencia (Buffalo), Pedraza (Rochester), Gonzalez (Syracuse) and Camacho (Amsterdam) families became leaders decades ago, with their children, and
in some cases, grandchildren, being leaders today.
In the subsequent years, population increases would lead to the establishment of agencies, in many cases with the cooperation of Catholic leaders,
including Fathers Robert Chryst (Syracuse) and Laurence Tracy (Rochester). The Ibero-American Action League (Rochester) was formed in 1968, the Augustin
"Pucho" Olivencia Community Center (Buffalo), Spanish Action League of Onondaga County (Syracuse) and Puerto Rican Youth Development (Rochester) in 1969;
Centro Civico Hispanoamericano (Albany) in 1975; Centro Civico of Amsterdam in 1986 and Hispanic Outreach Services was incorporated as a Catholic Charities
agency in the Capital Region in 1989, after years of service as The Spanish Center, El Apostolado Hispano and other names. This decade has seen the
establishment of the Mohawk Valley Latino Association in Utica, the Hispanic Resource Center in Auburn and the Latino Community Advocacy Program in
Saratoga Springs. In the decade to come, perhaps we'll see the openings of community-based organizations in Binghamton, Ithaca and Watertown.
The farmworkers today have numerous organizations supporting them, including the Finger Lakes Community Health Care Project in Penn Yan, as well as the
Migrant Education Outreach Programs and the branches of Agri-Business Child Development. Stores and restaurants in Medina, Valatie, Canandaigua, Sodus and
Fleischmanns have served as a taste of home for migrant workers.
Latinos would start breaking down political barriers in the late 1960s and they have not stopped. Pedro Perdaza and Augustin Olivencia were Democatic
leaders in their cities. Latinos have served across Upstate. Today, in addition to City Council Presidents Bea Gonzalez in Syracuse and Gladys Santiago in
Rochester, Latinos serve on City Councils, County Legislatures, and School Boards, and as Judges.
Their presence is not restricted to large cities. Latinos have been elected or appointed to levels of government in Monroe, Tompkins, Greene and
Schenectady Counties, Medina (Orleans County), Fleischmanns (Delaware County), Ithaca, Jamestown, Niagara, Colonie and Pulaski (Oswego County). They are
or have been Latino school board members in Corinth, Saratoga Springs, Honeoye Falls-Lima, Johnson City, Dunkirk, Gilbertsville-Mount Upton, Waverly,
Solvay, Central Square, Horseheads, Sweet Home and Amsterdam. Latinos have also served as school superintendents in Buffalo and Rochester, and today in
Victor. well the Niagara County Democratic Chair, and Republican City Leaders in Rochester and Hudson.
But if you want to talk about political breakthroughs in rural areas, think about Julie Garcia, whose grandfather worked in the aforementioned North
County mines. She is the Essex County District Attorney. In 2006, Peter Lopez became the first Latino north of New York City to be elected to the State
Legislature, representing a district whose Latino population constitutes about 2% of the entire district's population. In June of this year, Maria Castaneda
was elected Mayor of the Village of Brockport.
It was in the late 1960s that Latinos across Upstate would begin to join together to express their culture in major public celebrations, and this year
the Puerto Rican Festival of Rochester marks its 40th Anniversary. Festivals and parades have become part of the community fabric in nearly every area of
Upstate New York. The more recently established festivals, featuring everything from music to welcoming and migrant populations take place take place in
Utica, Binghamton, Saratoga and Brockport. There are picnics in Binghamton, Ithaca and Corning. And the legacy of the Club Latino Norteamericano de Mujeres
is evident today in the Hispanic Women's League, Latinas Unidas, Capital District 100 Hispanic Women, and among Latinas in the Binghamton area who would
gather at homes once a month to share food and culture.
We can't forget about our captains of industry and executives. How about Hispanic Business 500 companies in Rochester and Cohoes, and leaders of major
corporations like Kodak?
Uniting a widespread community has become easier with email, conference calls and the Internet, but the lack of technology did not keep two activists
from covering Upstate New York in 1994 to rally Upstate Latinos for what would turn out to be Governor Mario Cuomo's unsuccessful bid for re-election.
The Hispanic Conference of Upstate New York held a reception at Somos El Futuro in 1998. With the support of the New York State Senate, an Upstate
Puerto Rican/Hispanic Directory was sent from 2000 to 2002. In 2000, a quarterly publication with a name familiar to many, Noticias y Notas, was sent
to organizations that received the directory. In 2003, Centro Civico of Amsterdam held an Upstate conference called Building a Healthy Latino Community.
From 2004 to 2007 and again this year, the Somos conference has held Upstate Workshops. The email version of Noticias y Notas celebrated its fifth
anniversary this year, with 1,200 recipients, and news from New England outside of Boston and news about Portuguese-speaking communities.
Having traveled from Buffalo in 2007, to Rochester last year and now to Syracuse, the planning committee for the Upstate Latino Summit remembers
those Latino pioneers whose work has brought us here today. We look forward to the conferences to come, and hope that the next generation of leaders
will exceed what we have accomplished.
