A presença de estudantes negras no ginásio Maria Ortiz, anexo à escola normal Pedro II de Vitória, Espírito Santo (1936-1943)

Abstract

During the first Vargas government (1930-1945), public policies sought to unify education through a set of educational reforms, which resulted in local actions supported by the operation of Normal Schools (Teacher Training Secondary Courses) in different states in Brazil. In the context of those policies, this study aims at investigating the presence of black students in the transition between the secondary course of the Pedro II Normal School, which began in 1936, and the legal institution of Maria Ortiz Gymnasium in 1943, in the state of Espírito Santo, focusing especially on the process of feminization of the teaching profession and the effects of eugenic thought in Brazilian society during the period under study. The time frame established – from 1936 to 1943 – is situated between the institution of secondary education at Pedro II, in compliance with state law No 74/1936, and the denomination Maria Ortiz Gymnasium, according to state decree No 14.388/1943. The documental corpus includes laws and decrees about public education in the investigated period, letters, requests, inspectors' visits, reports, students’ records and photographs. The mapping, selection and analysis of the sources are based on the theories of Bloch (2001) and Ginzburg (1989, 2002), especially exploring the indiciary method. From the intersection of the sources, this study questions the whitening process suffered by some female students during the enrollment process, in the context of the public policies materialized in the Francisco Campos (1931) and Capanema (1942) reforms, since the actions of the Vargas government affirmed the construction of a "new" Brazil, having the nationalism and the eugenic ideas as conductive threads. By making visible the presence of these black students and other elements of the history of Maria Ortiz Gymnasium itself, including sources neglected so far, it is intended to contribute to the expansion of writings about the history of education in Espírito Santo.