“BEHOLD THE CHILDREN’S HEART CLOSED TO FEELINGS NOBLE AND GENEROUS”: A DOCUMENT ON CHILD CARE INSTITUTIONS IN THE BRAZILIAN IMPERIAL PERIOD

ABSTRACT

A relatively important category in the field of History of Education and Childhood, orphanhood has become a recurring interest from a historical perspective. The practice of care and the legal regimes surrounding care and attention have increasingly drawn the attention of Brazilian researchers. The document we present for now deals with a publication from 1882, entitled Memória sobre Asylos Infantis ou Estudos das Instituições, signed by Augusto Candido Xavier Cony (1842-1904), an esteemed public primary education teacher and author of educational books in Imperial Court. An original version of this rare document is safeguarded at the Biblioteca Nacional (BN) in Rio de Janeiro and is available for local consultation. In presenting the document, we prepared a quantitative analysis of academic publications (dissertations and theses), produced in Brazil in recent years, which explore the idea of orphanhood. Likewise, we developed a small reflection on the potential uses and interest in the source reproduced here in full.

Keywords:
Memory; Children's Home; Institution; Assistance; History of Childhood