Central High School of Commerce (with audio commentary)

Central High School of Commerce (with audio commentary)

"In the [19]60s and [19]70s, during the formative years of the community, when Portuguese arrived... there was no expectation of sending the Portuguese to follow academic careers; [girls] were sort of streamed into the secretary [trade]... The Central High School of Commerce in the [19]70s was probably 90% Portuguese for that reason, just like Central Technical School was for the boys. Academic high schools such as Harbord Collegiate had a very small number of Portuguese. There was an effort made in the very late [19]70s, early [19]80s... this was when Laura Bulger [was teaching] a Portuguese language class at Harbord... this was when there was a movement in the community to try to bring a certain awareness and also fight against discrimination in the streaming in elementary schools, etc... That was really a big issue. My oldest sister went to the Central High School of Commerce, but my youngest sister didn't, she ended up being a teacher... [which] is very typical of any [Portuguese] family with four or five children..."

Domingos Marques interviewed by Gilberto Fernandes and Susana Miranda, October 30, 2008.