A Backward Glance at Portuguese and Brazilian Studies in the United States

Abstract

Portuguese, a relative newcomer to most college and university curricula, may possibly have been taught in the United States as early as the close of the seventeenth century in a school belonging to the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue of New York City. It seems likely that the early records kept in Portuguese over several decades were written by those who received their training in the language in New York City. Instruction in Portuguese in college was first offered by a Frenchman, Father Peter Babad of the Society of St. Sulpice. Just when the priest began teaching Portuguese at St. Mary's College in Baltimore, Maryland, is not precisely known, but in 1816 he had a class in it under the auspices of the Department of Classical Languages.