![Olivia’s grandparents with their children: Standing, left to right: her aunt, Adelina Raposo Terceira; her uncle, Antonio Raposo Terceira, Jr.; her aunt, Maria Raposo Terceira; her father, José ‘Joseph’ Raposo Terceira, Sr., her aunt, Regina Raposo Terceira; her aunt, Alexandrina Raposo Terceira; her uncle, Manuel Raposo Terceira. Seated, left to right: Olivia’s grandmother, Mrs. Antonio Raposo Terceira, Sr., née Maria De Jesus Ferreira Andrade; her aunt, Herondina Raposo Terceira; her grandfather, Antonio Raposo Terceira, Sr.<p><p><em> “It was a six-tenement house. It was my … aunts, and myself, me, I was brought up there.”</em></p></p>](https://fallriverhistorical.org/WomenatWork/wp-content/uploads/cache/2016/04/Abdow1web/95006096.jpg)
“It was a six-tenement house. It was my … aunts, and myself, me, I was brought up there.”
![Olivia’s grandmother, Mrs. Antonio Raposo Terceira, Sr., née Maria De Jesus Ferreira Andrade, in later life. <p><p><em> “My grandmother grew up in [Feteiras do Sul, São Miguel,] Azores, but she was brought up in Hawaii. She had quite a travel, you know.” </em></p></p>](https://fallriverhistorical.org/WomenatWork/wp-content/uploads/cache/2016/04/Abdow2_edited-1web/3271079568.jpg)
“My grandmother grew up in [Feteiras do Sul, São Miguel,] Azores, but she was brought up in Hawaii. She had quite a travel, you know.”
![Olivia’s father, José ‘Joseph’ Raposo Terceira, Sr., and her mother, née Rose Souza Farias, on their wedding day, June 25, 1920. <p><p><em> “She got married, and she went to work. She eloped. She eloped so she could stay here and she went to work.” </em></p></p>](https://fallriverhistorical.org/WomenatWork/wp-content/uploads/cache/2016/04/Abdow3web/1694718119.jpg)
“She got married, and she went to work. She eloped. She eloped so she could stay here and she went to work.”
![Olivia with her siblings, 1934. Standing, left to right: George Raposo Terceira; João ‘John’ Raposo Terceira; Olivia. <p>Seated: José ‘Joseph’ Raposo Terceira, Jr. </p><p><p><em> “Just four – my three brothers and myself. And my mother kept working until my older brother was sixteen and she says, ‘Well, I, I give up. I’m not working anymore.” </em></p></p>](https://fallriverhistorical.org/WomenatWork/wp-content/uploads/cache/2016/04/Abdow4web/1348168543.jpg)
Seated: José ‘Joseph’ Raposo Terceira, Jr.
“Just four – my three brothers and myself. And my mother kept working until my older brother was sixteen and she says, ‘Well, I, I give up. I’m not working anymore.”
![The Fall River Boy’s Club, 374 Anawan Street, circa 1930. <p><p><em> “It was a cold water flat. And my mother got the tub out from hanging on the door … and it was only once a week. And she’d bring out the tub and we would all take a bath. And then my brothers got old enough to go to the Boy’s Club – I thanked the Boy’s Club many times – so they could go swimming, but I had to use the tub.” </em></p></p>](https://fallriverhistorical.org/WomenatWork/wp-content/uploads/cache/2016/04/Abdow5web/3304867838.jpg)
“It was a cold water flat. And my mother got the tub out from hanging on the door … and it was only once a week. And she’d bring out the tub and we would all take a bath. And then my brothers got old enough to go to the Boy’s Club – I thanked the Boy’s Club many times – so they could go swimming, but I had to use the tub.”
![Olivia strikes a classic 1940s pose. <p><p><em> “Sometimes I hated being a girl. My brothers go swimming to the sandbars … I couldn’t go, I was a girl.” </em></p></p>](https://fallriverhistorical.org/WomenatWork/wp-content/uploads/cache/2016/04/Abdow6web/1098712964.jpg)
“Sometimes I hated being a girl. My brothers go swimming to the sandbars … I couldn’t go, I was a girl.”
![A 1950 advertisement for Kerr Thread Mill, a division of American Thread Company, Fall River, Massachusetts. Olivia was employed here until circa 1953 when the company closed.](https://fallriverhistorical.org/WomenatWork/wp-content/uploads/cache/2016/04/Abdow7web/2757145289.jpg)
![The Durfee Mills, Pleasant Street, Fall River, Massachusetts, in an early 20th century postcard; the building at the left later housed Nancy Dress Company, at 473 – 475 Pleasant Street. <p><p><em> “I worked in the shop, one shop [Nancy Dress Company] … twenty-eight years – that’s not counting the others.” </em></p></p>](https://fallriverhistorical.org/WomenatWork/wp-content/uploads/cache/2016/04/Abdow8web/734879860.jpg)
“I worked in the shop, one shop [Nancy Dress Company] … twenty-eight years – that’s not counting the others.”
![A Terceira family portrait. Standing, left to right: Olivia’s brothers, George Raposo Terceira; José ‘Joseph’ Raposo Terceira Jr., João ‘John’ Raposo Terceiro. Seated, left to right: her mother, née Rose Souza Farias; Olivia; her father, José ‘Joseph’ Raposo Terceira, Sr. <p><p><em> “And we had, we never went without. We had a good, good upbringing.” </em></p></p>](https://fallriverhistorical.org/WomenatWork/wp-content/uploads/cache/2016/04/Abdow9_edited-2web/751234598.jpg)
“And we had, we never went without. We had a good, good upbringing.”
![Sister Marie de la Nativité, of the order of Sisters of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd of Angers, at the Convent of the Good Shepherd in Cairo, Egypt, with her niece, Mary Doumite; the girl, would later marry Nahem ‘Nathan’ Eid Abdow and become Olivia’s mother-in-law. Mary was fluent in six languages: Arabic, English, French, Greek, Italian, and Latin. <p><p><em> “And my mother-in-law was brought up in the convent in Egypt. Her parents had died, and then she came to this country [and] she got married.” </em></p></p>](https://fallriverhistorical.org/WomenatWork/wp-content/uploads/cache/2016/04/Abdow10_edited-1web/212948246.jpg)
“And my mother-in-law was brought up in the convent in Egypt. Her parents had died, and then she came to this country [and] she got married.”
![Olivia’s husband, Dolor ‘Duke’ Bernard Abdow, circa 1930; the photograph was taken in the yard of his parents residence at 275 Quequechan Street, Fall River, Massachusetts. <p><p><em> “And my husband is Lebanese.” </em></p></p>](https://fallriverhistorical.org/WomenatWork/wp-content/uploads/cache/2016/04/Abdow11web/3095129166.jpg)
“And my husband is Lebanese.”
![Olivia’s father-in law, Nahem ‘Nathan’ Eid Abdow, representing Uncle Sam, July, 4, 1939; the photograph was taken outside the Lebanese American Club on Quequechan Street, Fall River, Massachusetts. Depicted to his left is Gloria Assad, as Martha Washington, and to his right, John Hagg, as George Washington.](https://fallriverhistorical.org/WomenatWork/wp-content/uploads/cache/2016/04/Abdow12web/3864150493.jpg)
![Interior of the Durfee Theatre, 28 North Main Street, Fall River, Massachusetts, circa late 1940s. <p><p><em> “Yeah, because, first of all, we took the bus to, uh, the Durfee. We saw a nice movie.” </em></p></p>](https://fallriverhistorical.org/WomenatWork/wp-content/uploads/cache/2016/04/ThteatreDurfee/4248611471.jpg)
“Yeah, because, first of all, we took the bus to, uh, the Durfee. We saw a nice movie.”
![Mr. & Mrs. Dolor ‘Duke’ Bernard Abdow on their wedding day, June 18, 1949, posing in the living room of Olivia’s parents’ residence, 1433 Pleasant Street, Fall River, Massachusetts; her wedding gown has been donated to the Fall River Historical Society. <p><p><em> “Cause I got married at twenty and he was twenty himself.” </em></p></p>](https://fallriverhistorical.org/WomenatWork/wp-content/uploads/cache/2016/04/Abdow16web/948820743.jpg)
“Cause I got married at twenty and he was twenty himself.”
![The newlywed Mr. & Mrs. Abdow with members of their wedding party returning to her family’s residence, 1433 Pleasant Street, Fall River, Massachusetts, following their wedding, June 18, 1949.](https://fallriverhistorical.org/WomenatWork/wp-content/uploads/cache/2016/04/Abdow17web/1053347669.jpg)
![The newlywed Mr. & Mrs. Abdow with members of their wedding party returning to her family’s residence, 1433 Pleasant Street, Fall River, Massachusetts, following their wedding, June 18, 1949.](https://fallriverhistorical.org/WomenatWork/wp-content/uploads/cache/2016/04/Abdow18web/1042112868.jpg)
![Olivia and Duke with their eldest son, Steven Dolor Abdow at the boy’s fifth birthday party, 1957; Olivia would soon give birth to their second child, Keith Bernard Abdow.<p><p> Olivia captioned the photograph: </p></p><p><p><em> “Steven’s 5 year old party. Keith was on his way.” </em></p></p>](https://fallriverhistorical.org/WomenatWork/wp-content/uploads/cache/2016/04/Abdow21web/2160441081.jpg)
Olivia captioned the photograph:
“Steven’s 5 year old party. Keith was on his way.”
![Olivia’s in-laws, Nahem ‘Nathan’ Eid Abdow, and Mrs. Abdow, née Mary Doumite, at their grandson Steven’s <em>“5 year old birthday party</em>,” 1957. A smoker, Mary was a devotee of the <em>nargile</em>, the traditional Lebanese water pipe; she holds a <em>fenjan</em>, or cup, of <em>al-qahwa</em>, strong Arabic coffee. <p><p><em> “Because when my husband said he wanted to get married … my mother-in-law found out I was Portuguese, she didn’t like the idea too well. But I am going to tell you [she] took care of my children while I went to work …” </em></p></p>](https://fallriverhistorical.org/WomenatWork/wp-content/uploads/cache/2016/04/Abdow22web/1220632860.jpg)
“Because when my husband said he wanted to get married … my mother-in-law found out I was Portuguese, she didn’t like the idea too well. But I am going to tell you [she] took care of my children while I went to work …”
![Olivia’s mother-in-law, Mrs. Nahem ‘Nathan’ Eid Abdow, née Mary Doumite, striking a pose with one of her beloved <em>nargile</em>, the traditional Lebanese water pipe, circa early 1960s. <p><p><em> “They are wonderful people … and as you meet them and get to know them, you realize what wonderful people they are.” </em></p></p>](https://fallriverhistorical.org/WomenatWork/wp-content/uploads/cache/2016/04/Abdow23_edited-1web/1638617455.jpg)
“They are wonderful people … and as you meet them and get to know them, you realize what wonderful people they are.”
![Olivia’s sons, Steven Dolor Abdow and Keith Bernard Abdow, 1959. <p><p><em> “I wanted them to have a good education.” </em></p></p>](https://fallriverhistorical.org/WomenatWork/wp-content/uploads/cache/2016/04/Abdow24web/4103223866.jpg)
“I wanted them to have a good education.”
![Olivia, her husband, Duke, and their son, Steven, dressed for his First Holy Communion, outside the family residence at 85 Massasoit Street, Fall River, Massachusetts, 1959; Olivia’s in-laws, Mr. & Mrs. Nahem ‘Nathan’ Eid Abdow, lived on the third floor of the house in the rear center, 182 Quequechan Street.](https://fallriverhistorical.org/WomenatWork/wp-content/uploads/cache/2016/04/Abdow25web/4074188392.jpg)
![Olivia and Duke, 1965. <p><p><em> “I don’t have any regrets, marrying my husband, having my children, I just wish … that I probably could have had a little more education. That is what I think I would have liked, a little education.” </em></p></p>](https://fallriverhistorical.org/WomenatWork/wp-content/uploads/cache/2016/04/Abdow26web/1372926036.jpg)
“I don’t have any regrets, marrying my husband, having my children, I just wish … that I probably could have had a little more education. That is what I think I would have liked, a little education.”
![The Robeson Mills, 240 Hartwell Street, Fall River, Massachusetts, circa 1870s; reincorporated as the Luther Manufacturing Company in 1903, the structure later housed Rondo Knit Sportswear. <p><p><em> “There was a shop [Rondo Knit Sportswear] that opened up for a while. I worked there for a while over there, and it brought my pension right down. Right down, it went right down.” </em></p></p>](https://fallriverhistorical.org/WomenatWork/wp-content/uploads/cache/2016/04/Abdow27web/1469064198.jpg)
“There was a shop [Rondo Knit Sportswear] that opened up for a while. I worked there for a while over there, and it brought my pension right down. Right down, it went right down.”
![The Fall River Cotton Centennial celebration was held from June 19 – 26, 1911, to commemorate the one-hundredth anniversary of the construction of the first cotton mill in Fall River, Massachusetts, by Colonel Joseph Durfee in 1811; this image depicts a parade held on June 21st. <p><p><em> “It was a great big city. We had a parade one time, over a hundred people in the parade and it was all from people that worked in the mills – that worked in the mills.” </em></p></p>](https://fallriverhistorical.org/WomenatWork/wp-content/uploads/cache/2016/04/Abdow28web/1464175159.jpg)
“It was a great big city. We had a parade one time, over a hundred people in the parade and it was all from people that worked in the mills – that worked in the mills.”