The trait of personalism in charitable institutions: Donors, donations, and social projection in nineteenthcentury ceará

Abstract

In the nineteenth century, Brazil witnessed the emergence of the first welfare institutions. These became the platforms for provincial states to raise the status of their political and economic elite, naming them great benefactors. Men of local repute played active roles in building certain institutional spaces, employing practices that reinforced their social prestige not just among their peers and for their time, but also for the memory and history of the institutions with which they were involved. The building of three welfare institutions in the province of Ceará is problematized: Asilo de Mendicidade, Colônia Orfanológica Cristina, and Asilo de Alienados São Vicente de Paula, whose discourse and philanthropic actions were entangled with the great drought of 1877-1879.