On Voyage with Cristóvão Colombo : The Privatization of Catholic Orphan Care in São Paulo City, 1892-1922

Abstract: In 1980, the military overthrew the monarchy, separated the Church from the State, and installed Federal Republic in Brazil. The decentralization of political powers enhanced the abilities of each federal state to shape its own politics of childhood. In São Paulo, such an ability resulted in the passage of diverse state laws in areas of childcare, and several institutions were created to attend to children’s needs during the early twentieth century.The purpose of this study is to examine the various roles of the State in the expansion of private religious orphan care in São Paulo city during the 1892–1922 period, as well as some of these roles’ effects on the practical uses of Catholic orphanages by diverse interest groups. The debate among state legislators and Catholic clergy as well as the admission and discharge practices at one Catholic orphanage served as bases for the examination.The study will show that the expansion of private institutions of childcare tended to obscure the role of the State in the expansion of public and private schooling during the period. On the one hand, the influence of the State appeared to have diminished as a consequence of fewer years of mandatory schooling at public institutions; the delegation of childcare to private institutions; the lack or limited subvention of the State in proportion to all children hosted at such institutions; and, the admission requirements which seemed to discourage rather than encourage application. The “true” role, influence, and dependence on the State, on the other hand, surfaced in times of political unrest.