Sociedade do Espirito Santo Corporation (1896)

The City of Santa Clara, with a population of just over 100,000, is located in the county of the same name, just south of San Francisco Bay. Santa Clara is headquarters to many hi-tech companies and is known for its prestigious Jesuit-run Santa Clara University and its Great America theme park. Santa Clara is Sister City with the Portuguese city of Coimbra.

After the discovery of gold in California, many Portuguese, mostly from the Azores, arrived in the fertile Santa Clara Valley. They worked in the pear, peach, cherry, and plum orchards that covered the valley and in the canneries and drying houses. Later, many Portuguese dairies dotted the valley, giving employment to a larger number of their fellow countrymen.

The immigrants brought their faith in the Holy Spirit, thus the reason that festivals honoring the Third Person of the Holy Trinity which appeared in many of the towns throughout the valley. Santa Clara's Portuguese Holy Ghost organization promotes one of the earliest celebrations in the valley.

The oldest document available to us, dated September 3, 1894, identifies a meeting where three individuals discussed the purchase of a Holy Ghost crown in order to celebrate the Santissima Trindade. This meeting between Luso-Americans Antonio Felipe, Joe Rosa, and Jose Soares may have been the seed for the following year's celebration on November 16, 1895, attributed to the foundation of the S.E.S. of Santa Clara. The minutes of this celebration listed the names of the first committee: President-Jose C. Soares, Vice-President-Jose da Rosa, Secretary-G.R. Martins, Treasurer-Manuel Vargas, Master of Ceremonies-Manuel Faria, Inside Guard-M.P. Quadraz, Marshal-Manuel R. Martins. The Sociedade do Espirito Santo Beneficiente de Santa Clara was formally registered with the State of California on January 18, 1896. The society's objective was to celebrate the festival in honor of the Holy Ghost once a year and to help its members during illness and death.

The plan provided for a widow to receive $1 per member of the society and the widower to receive fifty cents at dead of spouse. The concept of equal rights as we know it today was not a concern back then. Additionally, membership was only accessible to Catholic males between the ages of fifteen and thirty-five.

Manuel Vargas was an important member of the organization from the beginning. He was born in 1855 (location unknown) and married Maria Vargas. He was a prominent businessman, city councilman, and president of the SES in 1898-1901, 1902-1905, and 1906-1908. He died in office, in July of 1908. His vision of expanding the society throughout California led him to found an SES branch in Milpitas and another in San Jose. He increased sick and disabled benefits to $8 per week and contracted Dr. George Fowler, M.D. to see member patients.

In 1907, according to the Santa Clara News, under his leadership, 2,000 pounds of meat and 1000 loaves of bread were consumed, fireworks costing $135 were displayed, and a magnificent parade was organized with many floats, one of them representing the ship City of Lisbon. According to newspaper articles of the time, an estimated 12,000 people attended the festivity, with electric rail cars running extra trips into the night, in order to transport the enormous crowds. Manuel Vargas was honored by the organization for his services with a gold medal from the society.

However, with the unexpected death of such a charismatic leader, unity within the society diminished, and a period of clashing opinions began. The organization was divided in two main factions, and the crisis was such that at one time riot police were called to control the tempers. Ultimately, the court decided to create two organizations. Conselho Supremo da Sociedade do Espirito Santo kept all the documentation of the original society, the crown, jurisdiction over all the councils throughout California and the original membership. The following year, they purchased their headquarters on Grant Street, between Benton and Franklin Streets. This organization would mold itself as a fraternal life insurance society, which today has branches throughout California. The second organization was the Sociedade do Espirito Santo de Santa Clara (SES Corp.), which was allowed to keep the original building and land located on the corner of Lafayette and Lewis Streets, and to continue the yearly festivity in honor of the Holy Ghost, notable for its pomp and great attendance, on Trinity Sunday. For almost a century, this organization has made available its facilities to community groups for a variety of different activities: 1) several Portuguese radio program directors in the past used the SES facilities for their fundraising activities; 2) the hall has been the headquarters for numerous societies, including the local councils of Sociedade Portuguesa Rainha Santa Isabel (SPRSI), Saint Anthony Society, Associacao Madeirense, and Uniao Portuguesa Protectora do Estado da California (UPPEC); 3) the S.E.S. was also the birth place for the following organizations: the Sociedade de Nossa Senhora de Fatima, one of the most active throughout California; the Portuguese Athletic Club, the oldest Portuguese sports club in the State; and in 1974 the Sociedade Filarmonica Uniao Portuguesa de Santa Clara. Most recently, SES has assisted the Escola Corte Real where the Portuguese language is taught to children of the community; the SES Seniors, an organization that provides assistance and activities to the older Portuguese members of Santa Clara has also receive the support of SES Corp.; and finally, the Political Forum, a group of Portuguese-Americans whoorganize information sessions with local candidates before elections and expresses the views and needs of the Portuguese-American community. The inclusion of RTP Internacional (International Portuguese Television channel) in the local cable television system was a result of the efforts of this group.

Both SES organizations celebrated their centennial in 1996, and today members of both organizations participate in each other's activities. The property of SES Corp. is considered of historical interest in Santa Clara and is valued at about $10 million. Every year, around twenty heads of cattle are butchered for the sopas luncheon, which is offered for free to approximately 3,000 people.

We can truly say that S.E.S. Corp. in Santa Clara, with over 400 active members, is a reference to many other Portuguese community organizations and a sign of the presence of a people who discovered and colonized the world through knowledge, love, and faith.