PFSA

A fraternal organization for you

Cultural Center

The J.A. Freitas Library

The J.A. Freitas Library is a Special Collections Library privately owned and operated by the Supreme Council of PFSA with funds from a Grant from the Louise Freitas Estate (spouse of Mr. J.A. Freitas).

The Library was founded in 1964 and is located at 1100 14th Street, Suite E Modesto, CA, 95354.

The library collection consists of over 12,000 works dealing with the Portuguese throughout the world. It holds a vast number of books on the Azores and a fairly complete sample of periodicals published by the Portuguese in California, some dating to the late 1880’s. The library contains many historical materials on Portuguese from all over the world.  We provide our community with various magazines, periodicals, albums, videos, micro films, etc. Most of the collection circulates for periods of two weeks each and books can be requested from anywhere in California through inter library loan services provided by a network of public and academic libraries throughout California

We invite you to visit our library and discover a wealth of fascinating materials about Portuguese history, culture and the Portuguese immigrant experience.

The library is open Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.  Bring a California ID to check out up to 4 books for a two-week period.

Library
museum

The PFSA Museum

The PFSA Museum exhibits the historical memorabilia of the Portuguese history.  You will be able to see many photographs, documents, artifacts, etc., displaying the valuable devotion provided by many Portuguese Immigrants and their families.  This museum will take you back in time and at the same time you will learn the valuable contributions and ideas shared by many.   Here are some of the items displayed in the Museum:

 

  • Religious Celebrations – Holy Ghost Celebration artifacts
  • Native Portuguese Costumes
  • Fraternal Organizations Memorabilia
  • Whale – Hunting Instruments(miniatures)
    • Note: Whaling was responsible for Azorean immigration to California, followed by the Gold Discovery.
  • Large photographs
  • Many memorabilia from the Portuguese Fraternal Organizations.
    • Learn more about the Portuguese Fraternal Organizations and the value contributions made since the late 1800’s.

The Show Case contains many other items that you will find interesting.   We know how important history is for our community and we will continue to display it for everyone to treasure the Portuguese history.