Diversity in Danbury

Diversity in Danbury. Danbury, Connecticut. , The start of the 20th century saw a continual influx of newcomers to Danbury. A religious census taken in 1916 showed that 27 nationalities and 20 creeds were represented among the 22,533 residents of the town. , The 1910 census shows that a majority of the population were foreign born. The most numerous continued to be Italians. Their numbers increased until they outnumbered the Irish as the major foreign born group by the 1930s. , For many immigrants, churches, schools and fraternal organizations kept alive ties to culture, language and kinship. Trusted leaders assisted newcomers in securing jobs and housing and many found their way through the process of naturalization. Very often, children of these community leaders were among the first to hold public office in the city. , Many Portuguese worked in the hat factories and on local road construction crews. 1998 brought a merger of the Sons of Portugal, a club founded in 1924, with the Portuguese American Club, founded in 1938. By 1920 Greeks who had settled in town founded Assumption Greek Orthodox Church in a house on Farview Avenue. , The post-Vietnam War years brought Vietnamese, Laotian, Cambodian and other Southeast Asian refugees to the United States and our city. In recent years, thriving communities of Central and South American peoples, as well as those from India, have settled throughout the Greater Danbury area. , City schools and the changing landscape of our neighborhoods and local businesses offer an unparalleled glimpse of our population. They are a daily reminder of Danbury’s legacy as a place where those seeking a new life are welcomed into the community. It is important to remember that the multicultural diversity of Danbury has always been one of its greatest strengths.