Alberto Torres Pereira papers (MSS-0067)

Biographical/Historical Note

Alberto “Al” Torres Pereira (March 21, 1929 - December 2, 2017) was born in Providence, RI to Antonio Pereira and Maria da Luz Pereira. He was inspired by the courage of his parents, who immigrated from Cape Verde to the U.S. in search of a better life for themselves and their children, and utilized his love of music, poetry and art as a life-long advocate for the Cape Verdean community of Rhode Island. He was a veteran of the armed forces of the United States and served over 25 years as a librarian and consultant with the Rhode Island Department of State Library Services (now known as the Office of Library and Information Services (OLIS)), where he focused on community outreach and the development of cultural and literacy programs. He created the Cape Verdean Oral History Project and produced multimedia programming about Cape Verdeans in Rhode Island that combined images, music, and spoken word narration.