Rooted in Cape Verde (Cabo Verde). Growing in Norwich.
We are a nonprofit cultural heritage organization preserving the history and positive values of Cape Verdean people in Norwich and the surrounding region. Through education, celebration, and a collaborative spirit, we build relationships across cultures.
For decades, the Society’s clubhouse at 84 Talman Street was more than a building—it was the heart of Cape Verdean life in Norwich. Families gathered there for baby showers, birthdays, Thanksgiving celebrations, music, meetings, and important conversations. Newly arrived Cape Verdeans found familiar faces, practical support, and a place to belong. Across generations, it gave the community a place to celebrate its culture, care for one another, and shape its future together.
Ten islands. One people. A heritage carried across the Atlantic.01
Inspire
Keep Kriolu, history, music, food, and family traditions alive through cultural education.
02
Elevate
Bring young people and elders together to record memories and preserve Norwich’s Cape Verdean story.
03
Empower
Connect youth with mentorship, internships, community service, and pathways to future opportunity.
Our mission & vision
Preserve what grounds us. Build what comes next.
We promote culture and diversity, preserve Cape Verdean history and positive values, and work together to inspire, elevate, and empower our community.
When the clubhouse was lost, Norwich lost a consistent gathering place. The Society’s work now restores what that space represented: belonging, cultural pride, intergenerational connection, family support, leadership, and a strong community voice. Programs take place with schools, libraries, churches, civic spaces, and community partners across Norwich.
02 / Our signature gathering
Norwich Cape Verdean Festival
A joyful annual celebration of live music, traditional food, local vendors, family activities, and Cape Verdean pride.
Each year, neighbors from across the region meet at Howard T. Brown Memorial Park to experience the culture together. Visit the dedicated festival page for performances, participation information, and updates.
Lifetime members remember a place where generations mixed freely, neighbors of every background felt welcome, and Cape Verdeans found both a cultural home and a collective voice.
1939
Cape Verdean immigrants establish the Santiago Society at 84 Talman Street in Norwich.
2007
The beloved clubhouse is lost to fire. Its purpose—and the community’s responsibility to one another—endures.
2022
The Society is renewed as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit committed to heritage, education, and inclusion.
Today
Culture is carried forward through the festival, Kriolu and history programs, oral histories, youth opportunity, and community partnerships.
Norwich history in focus
The streets, landmarks, and sounds that shaped a community.
Historic research, census records, maps, and community memories help show how Cape Verdean families built lives—and a lasting cultural home—in Norwich.
Neighborhoods
Talman Street and Laurel Hill
From the late 1800s through the mid-1900s, two connected East Side neighborhoods became centers of Cape Verdean family life: Talman Street near the Shetucket River and Sunnyside Avenue on Laurel Hill.
A sacred landmark
St. Anthony’s Chapel
Joseph C. Delgado built the small chapel in 1926. Kept open to neighbors of many backgrounds, it became a powerful symbol of Cape Verdean arrival, faith, and belonging in Norwich.
St. Anthony’s Chapel outside St. Mary Church on Central Avenue, photographed in 2006.Music and memory
Hear the history
Local recordings and oral-history videos preserve the music, voices, and lived experience behind the written record.
History is more than dates. It is what people remember.
Were you part of a gathering at Talman Street? Do you remember a leader, celebration, song, meal, festival, or family tradition that should not be forgotten? Add your voice to the Society’s growing community archive.
