New Bedford / Massachusetts / United States
Through his ownership of WJFDs Radio Globo, Attorney Dinis has taken a leading role in various social economic and political issues of concern to the Portuguese community for more than thirty years. WJFDs twenty-four hour broadcast in the Portuguese language, with Antena 1s daily presence, has consistently comforted the nostalgic and encouraged the curious. Radio Globos ever-improving programming, while broadcasting from its 50, 000 watts of FM power, has made an immeasurable impact upon the significant Portuguese residing in eastern New England, and now the World via the internet. Attorney Dinis has held several political offices through which he invariably defended and promoted all matters Portuguese. Early on his career he took a significant role in one of the most important voter registration drives in New Bedford of the 1950s. He served in the New Bedford City Council, and was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives, representing New Bedfords Ward 6 District. He was subsequently elected to the Massachusetts Senate in 1953, serving the Third Bristol District until 1956, where he continued his efforts to highlight the Portuguese. As a State Senator he filed and secured the passage of Chapter 539 of the Acts of 1955 establishing the Dighton Rock State Park. Additionally, Attorney Dinis was County Treasurer and he became the first District Attorney of Portuguese descent having jurisdiction over the then larger Bristol County, which included the Cape and Islands. He served for twelve years. The Society of the Descendents of Peter Francisco, The Virginan Giant newsletter reported in 2001: In the 1950s, when he was a member of the Massachusetts State Senate, Mr. Dinis brought the name of Peter Francisco to national attention by sponsoring legislation that made March 15, the date of the Battle of Guildford Courthouse, Peter Francisco Day in Massachusetts. Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 6, Section 12S provides: The governor shall annually issue a proclamation calling for the a proper observance of March fifteenth, as a day set apart in recognition of the heroic contribution toward the success of the American Revolution by Peter Francisco. The newsletter continues: Most recently, he is remembered as the person who purchased our surplus books ( Peter Francisco: The Portuguese Patriot, by William Arthur Moon ). Mr. Dinis, is now distributing books to 250 schools ( mainly high schools ) on the east coast between Boston and Newark. Of equal importance were Attorney Diniss efforts in purchasing and distributing Paul E. Bierleys John Philip Sousa, American Phenomenon, among the many high schools and libraries in Massachusetts. Attorney Dinis called upon his legal and political skills to successfully persuade the Bangor Historical Society and City Officials to dedicate a parcel of land by the Penobscot River to celebrate the Portuguese Estevan Gomez 1525 landing in the area, while Gomez was in the service of Spain. The eminent historian Samuel Eliot Morison recorded that Gomez, who originally set sail with Fernando de Magalhaes, was born Estevao Gomes in Portugal before joining the Spanish fleet. The Estevan Gomez memorial monument was dedicated on Columbus day in 1999 in Bangor, Maine, on the banks of the Kenduskeag near Penobscot.
