This article examines the educational practices applied to hundreds of girls who lived in asylum status during the administration of Antonio José de Lemos (1897-1911), in a period marked by major political, economic and social transformations in the capital of Pará. In order to understand, the educational practices at boarding school, the study revealed that, even with a philanthropic nature, at least in its beginning, regulations, programs and textbooks were similar to those established for other public schools. However, it became evident that the subjects involving practical skills like arts and crafts, needlework and household gifts, had priority and occupied much of the time of grassroots orphans.
orphan girls; educational practices; Orphanato Municipal de Belém