Josephine Teixeira silhouettes and papers

Josephine Teixeira was born in Camacha, Funchal, Madeira Islands in 1911 to Antonio Baptista (1867-1950) and Genevieve Neves. She was one of five sons and two daughters and is the sister of Joseph Baptista, She emigrated in 1919 with her mother, four brothers, and a sister, joining her father and older brother Joseph in Providence. Josephine was selected to manage the family-run Liberty Super Market in New Bedford because she had attended some school and could read and write. She married Joseph Teixeira in 1935 and they had two sons, William and Lawrence. She worked at Kilburn and Wamsutta Mills, and later was employed by Saltmarsh’s department store in New Bedford. She sold her cut-paper silhouette portraits at craft fairs and other local festivals. Bibiana Xavier (1892?-1987), some of whose papers are included in this collection, was one of Josephine’s co-workers from Wamsutta Mill, and lived with her following Joseph Teixeira’s death in 1974. She was born in the Azores, made her living as an embroiderer, and is pictured at work in the accompanying Wamsutta Mills pamphlet. She lived at Sacred Heart Nursing Home in New Bedford at the time of her death. For a more detailed biography of Josephine and Joseph Teixeira, see box 1.