Historical Portrait
People: Manuel and Mariana Branco and daughter Maria portrait, sitting down, 1900
Archive record
1900 portrait of Portuguese immigrants Manuel and Mariana Branco with daughter Maria in Novato, California. Public domain historical photograph.
About this photograph
The archive holds this as a 1900 studio portrait of Manuel and Mariana Branco with their daughter Maria, made in Novato, California. The record identifies the family as Portuguese immigrants but does not name the photographer.
Between roughly 1880 and 1920 some 20 million people arrived in the United States, most from southern and eastern Europe. Studio portraits often marked this passage, made at home to leave with relatives or made soon after arrival and sent back as proof of safe landing and employment.
The photograph comes to the Internet Archive through California Revealed, a statewide digitisation programme that makes material from California libraries, archives, museums and historical societies publicly available. Because items reaching the archive this way originate from many separate local institutions, the shared source tag indicates where a photograph was digitised rather than where it was taken.
The record gives no further information about the Branco family, their journey, or how long they had been in California when this portrait was made.
Compiled from the catalogue record and reference notes on the formats and events involved. The archive record above is the primary source.
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