Órfãs e desvalidas: a formação de meninas no Orphanato Municipal de Belém do Pará (1893 1931)

Abstract

This study entitled Orphans and invalids: the formation of girls in the Municipal de Belém do Pará Orphanage (1893 1931) aimed to analyze some educational practices applied to hundreds of girls who lived isolated in a period marked by great political, economic and social transformations in the paraense capital (Belém, Pará). First, the trajectory of the Institution was described since its origins until its move to the rural zone of the city which made some issues come up, such as: sanitation, hygiene, immigration and assistance. At the same time, there was an urban reorganization of the capital which happened in the first decade of the 20th century due to the good economic moment provoked by the rubber exportation and it had education as one of its main goals. The research also stressed the relationship established between the philanthropic institutions and the Municipal Orphanage, first, in the moment of its foundation and in its transference to the city and then, in the late 1920s, when the State went through some financial difficulties. The study revealed that even philanthropic institutions, at least in its beginning, the regulations, programs and compendiums designed to teach the orphan girls were directed, mostly, related to issues established for the other public schools. However, it was noticed that the subjects that involving handicraft, sewing and housework had priority and kept the orphans occupied for most of the time. These girls were constantly under vigilance and discipline. The activities were led internally by the missionaries of the Italian order Filhas de Sant Anna who arrived in the late 19th century and started to direct some other philanthropic institutions which involved health care and education which were important for many plans of different governments that wanted to affirm the reorganization of the paraense capital and, above all, the formation of its inhabitants, especially the boarders. The research used reports and governmental messages as its main documental sources. It also used some periodicals, the students enrollment registered in a book and other books containing the minutes of some meetings, some exams of the institution as well as some ichnographic registration of that time.