New Bedford resident researchers review submissions for their photo book project. Photo: Shinelle Kirk
For neighborhoods fragmented by gentrification, it can be hard to hold onto vital cultural history. Case in point: When Karen Jenkins purchased a home in New Bedford, Massachusetts, she didn’t recognize it until she entered the building. Only then did she realize she was buying the site of the basement bar that had once formed the center of her and much of her Cape Verdean community’s social life.
The “Bomb Shelter,” as the bar was known, may have been unconventionally placed in the cellar of a residential multifamily building. Still, it was a beloved landmark for the Cape Verdeans of New Bedford and the surrounding area. Founded in the 1930s by Alfred Pina, a local Cape Verdean society leader, the Bomb Shelter served as a vital cultural hub for five decades. The space began…