{"id":88,"featured":0,"modified":"2026-04-17 19:57:12","latitude":41.79301749999999771034708828665316104888916015625,"longitude":-71.40764050000001361695467494428157806396484375,"title":"Former Site of Fefa's Market","subtitle":"","fullsize":"https://rhodetour.org/files/fullsize/fd178176457d4923abf18f343892e01d.jpg","address":"1232 Broad St\r\nProvidence, RI 02905","all_locations":[],"zoom":14,"creator":["Rhode Tour"],"description":"If we had to find one person who represents Dominicans in Rhode Island, it would have to be Josefina Rosario. “Doña Fefa” is loved, respected and celebrated as the "Mother of the Dominican Community."
\r\n
\r\nDominicans are now the largest group of Latinos in Rhode Island. But in 1955, when Doña Fefa arrived in the state, she was convinced she was the first. Others soon followed.
\r\n
\r\nRosario opened a little store known as Fefa's Market in 1959, near the entrance to Roger Williams Park. She sold the foods she missed from home, including plátanos, yuca, coffee and cilantro, stocked Dominican newspapers, and gave the newcomers advice on finding a job, getting a driving license, and registering their children for school. She was a one-woman welcoming committee, and her store became a community center providing familiar comforts and advice in a new and strange world.
\r\n
\r\nShe and her Puerto Rican husband, Tony, often sponsored Dominican immigrants and housed them in their seven-room house at 145 Chester Street, on the corner of Broad Street, until they could find an apartment. Their daughters, fluent in English, served as translators when the newcomers needed help with myriad details of life in Rhode Island.
","sponsor":null,"accessinfo":"","lede":"","website":"","related_resources":["Marti­nez, Marta V., and Albert T. Klyberg. Latino History in Rhode Island: Nuestras Raí­ces. The History Press, 2014.","“Latino History of RI.” Latino Oral History Project of RI • Home, www.nuestrasraicesri.org/.","“Immigration.” Pew Research Center's Hispanic Trends Project, 20 Dec. 2017, www.pewhispanic.org/topics/immigration/.","United States Census Bureau. (2017). Quick Facts: Rhode Island; Providence City, Rhode Island [Data file]. Retrieved from http://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/PST045215/44,4459000"],"factoids":["

Before You Go

\n

Suggested starting location:

\n

Parking:

\n","Tip 
","Fact 
"],"files":{"https://rhodetour.org/files/fullsize/fd178176457d4923abf18f343892e01d.jpg":{"id":386,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Josefina Rosario","description":" Josefina can be seen here wearing her new dress which she wore upon her arrival to the United States. ","thumbnail":"https://rhodetour.org/files/square_thumbnails/fd178176457d4923abf18f343892e01d.jpg"},"https://rhodetour.org/files/fullsize/870da85a8634bf1f1c9186bebdb4abb6.jpg":{"id":387,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Recreation of Fefa's Market at the Providence Children's Museum","description":"This is a recreation of Fefa's Market that opened in 2004 at the Providence Children’s Museum as part of an exhibit called \"Coming to Rhode Island.” This image shows Josefina Rosario with the exhibit's creator, Marta V. Martínez. | Marti­nez, Marta V., and Albert T. Klyberg. Latino History in Rhode Island: Nuestras Raí­ces p. 56","thumbnail":"https://rhodetour.org/files/square_thumbnails/870da85a8634bf1f1c9186bebdb4abb6.jpg"},"https://rhodetour.org/files/fullsize/b0e578123efa19db09d277bb768afaa1.jpg":{"id":389,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Doña Fefa in her store in the late 1960s","description":"Rosario sold candy and other goodies for children on their way home from school. | Marti­nez, Marta V., and Albert T. Klyberg. Latino History in Rhode Island: Nuestras Raí­ces p. 75","thumbnail":"https://rhodetour.org/files/square_thumbnails/b0e578123efa19db09d277bb768afaa1.jpg"},"https://rhodetour.org/files/fullsize/baaac09f485e07723cee0270c37672ad.jpg":{"id":390,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Fefa's Market","description":" Providence Children's Museum held an exhibit featuring a recreation of Fefa's market, teaching children about her important impact on the community. ","thumbnail":"https://rhodetour.org/files/square_thumbnails/baaac09f485e07723cee0270c37672ad.jpg"},"https://rhodetour.org/files/original/35f4bcdc38c268bc7a1d024f359b79cf.mp3":{"id":419,"mime-type":"audio/mpeg","title":"AUDIO: Josefina discusses the new dress she wore when she came to the US","description":""}}}