From colonial center to municipality, a brief contextualization

The year 1885 was passing, and the colonization of the Italian Colonial Region [Região Colonial Italiana] (RCI) received a high migratory inflow, evidencing a demand for new lands. Antônio Prado’s territory then belonged to Vacaria, Rio Grande do Sul (^{Barbosa, 1980}) and became a colonial center. As for the name, it was justified with praise, on the grounds that “[...] the new center was named ‘Antonio Prado’⁴⁰ as a deserved tribute to the services provided to the colonization of the province by the honored statesman who is currently in charge of agriculture, commerce and public roads” (^{Relatorio da Inspetoria..., 1887}, p. 23, author’s emphasis).

The same report presented the result of the work conducted by the Land Commission, which, between 1885 and 1886, had measured 391 lots, opened local paths and trails, and settled around 400 immigrants. Immigrants’ workforce was employed to open roads, and they lived off the payment in the early times, while building their houses and working on the first crops. The report informed that “[...] along the lines of the lots, 13 wooden huts were built, where immigrants live until they have completed the construction of their temporary homes” (^{Relatório da Inspetoria..., 1887}, p. 24). It also stated that “[...] it was imperative to found a new center endowed with the necessary elements for the well-being and prosperity of the immigrants who settled there, who no longer find easy placement in the old territories that are almost entirely occupied” (^{Relatório da Inspetoria..., 1887}, p. 23).

The occupation of the Antônio Prado colony, in the Gaucho Highlands, took place with successive waves of newly arrived immigrants, mostly from the Italian peninsula, who were settled in plots measured and distributed by the Land Commission. In 1890, it was possible to see an increase in the records produced by the Land and Lot Commission of Antônio Prado concerning the settlement of immigrants; in these movements, the first indications of a male and a female teacher who worked in that place, still in the immigrants’ shed, appear. Thus, the colony emerged simultaneously with the first forms of schooling and teaching practice.

The growth of the colonial center and the occupation of the lots resulted, on February 11, 1899, in the administrative autonomy of the locality, which was emancipated from the municipality of Vacaria. From then onwards, the bases of the local political-administrative system were established, and intendant⁴¹ Innocencio de Mattos Miller took over the administration (^{Biavaschi, 2011}). The first decades of the municipality were marked by the presence of republicans, and Innocencio⁴² managed Antônio Prado for 24 years, resigning only between 1907 and 1910, in favor of his deputy Cristiano Ziegler (^{Barbosa, 1980}).

In the mid-twentieth century, the small town was characterized by the presence of immigrants and descendants of Italians⁴³, Catholics and, mostly, farmers settled in rural areas. The population had an average of 10,000 inhabitants (^{A Federação, 1909}). Over the years, improvements were made in both access roads and routes for the distribution of agricultural production to the capital, one of the most recurrent demands of the residents.

In 1911, the Union and Mutual-Aid Club, an agricultural cooperative, was founded. At the end of 1912, Giuseppe Antoniuti created a family cinema. In 1915, a telephone line began connecting neighboring districts and municipalities (^{Bernardi, 2020}). A year later, the newspaper O Pradense was created. The predominance of agricultural activities and sawmills multiplied (^{Barbosa, 1980}). The emergence of five bank branches and ten hotels in the seat is worth highlighting, with the latter having, in 1914, a flow of 1,139 people (^{Barbosa, 1980}).

Thus, it is possible to observe changes, but a detailed analysis shows that, for instance, even at the height of the cooperative, after 1914, cooperativism was underdeveloped in the municipality (Antônio Prado: como ele..., 1972), which marked the period with some stagnation. The possibility of re-emigrating to the northwest of Rio Grande do Sul, as well as new private colonies in the west of Santa Catarina and Paraná, became an attractive option for many families. The exodus, between 1900 and 1915, accounted for approximately 30% of the population (^{Bernardi & Luchese, 2020}). The intendant refers to the period as an “[...] appalling crisis whose malign effects extend far and wide” (^{Arquivo Histórico Municipal de Antônio Prado [AHMAP], 1915}, p. 3). Throughout the 1920s, albeit slowly, the municipality resumed its growth.⁴⁴

The seat of the municipality, though relatively small, had a greater flow of people and services, with a predominance of administrative, commercial and financial activities. The hinterland, with the exception of the headquarters of the chapels⁴⁵, would be characterized by multi-crop smallholders and family labor force.

Itineraries of public teachers in Antônio Prado

The seat immigrants’ shed was completed in December 1886 (^{Bertaso & Lima, 1950}). It is known that, for at least a decade, it sheltered immigrants who, afterwards, would be sent to the lots for permanent settlement. On a temporary basis, families would live, and other activities, such as masses, would be carried out in the shed (^{Cinquantenario..., 2000}), in addition to care being provided to the ill, according to records from the João Spadari Adami Municipal Historical Archive (^{AHMJSA, 1889}). And there, in the same way, classes begin in the she, even before the creation or construction of specific spaces.

In 1890, the Inspectors⁴⁶ registered an official letter explaining that the shed had one class for girls, taught by the Italian teacher Genoveva, and one for boys⁴⁷, taught by a ‘Brazilian teacher’ (^{AHMJSA, 1890}a). We see that the movement of creation of both occurs concurrently with the first initiatives, evidencing the importance of classes in the residents’ lives, even more so because they made some of the space in the shed, which was already used for other actions, available for the conduction of such teaching activities.

Teacher Sérgio I. de Oliveira’s family stayed a long time in Antônio Prado. He had children up to ten years old attending his classes in the shed (^{Barbosa, 1980}), who later got married and stayed there. Barbosa (1980) explains that Sérgio’s class in 1890 would be public, but this information seems to be distorted by a year of difference, since the evidence leads us to believe in an initially private class. The Commission declared, in an official letter of May 1890, that it was not aware of public classes in the center (^{AHMJSA, 1890}c); there was a suggestion for the appointment of a teacher in July (AHMJSA, 1890a), and only on February 1, 1891, Sérgio was appointed⁴⁸ to teach the boy’s class in Antônio Prado (^{A Federação, 1891}). Among teacher Sérgio’s students, the list found (^{AHMJSA, 1890}b) indicates the attendance of students aged between seven and 12 years old. Nothing was found about teacher Sérgio’s professional journey prior to 1890.

The teacher’s intense circulation is noteworthy. From 1898 to 1901, Sérgio taught in Bom Jesus (^{Relatório..., 1898}; ^{A Federação, 1901}), from 1903 to 1906, he worked in Mato Perso (^{A Federação, 1903}, ¹⁹⁰⁶), in 1907, in São Francisco de Paula, and in 1908, in Criúva (^{A Federação, 1908}a). Lebrun (1935) informs that Sergio was retired as a state public teacher. Although we know little about Sergio’s total period of practice, he and Genoveva were considered Antônio Prado’s first teachers (^{Barbosa, 1980}).

Genoveva De Nale, in 1890, was 13 years old⁴⁹ when she taught Italian to the girls in the shed. Born in 1877 in Arsiè, Belluno province, she emigrated with her parents and some of her siblings around 1886⁵⁰. Her family would have settled on the Almeida Line, lot 28, far from the seat, on December 15, 1886 (^{Costa, 2007}). The De Nale family possibly never set foot in the shed, as its construction was completed in 1887 (^{Bertaso & Lima, 1950}). Despite the lot being far from the seat, it is possible to see frequent displacements - some of Genoveva’s brothers were born, and in 1892 her sister Cecília died and was buried in the seat⁵¹. In 1896, Genoveva was already married and with children. As a teacher, she makes us think about her own education. Having started teaching at the age of 13, immigrated at the age of nine, we question what school process she went through to legitimize her as a teacher and, in this sense, it seems interesting to remember what Luchese and Grazziotin identified.

Lay teachers, some with few years of schooling, who, because of their connection with the community space, because of the need and opportunity that arose, made themselves teachers. Throughout their careers, they found a place in improvement courses, in teacher training schools, or through self-education, building complementary opportunities for professionalization. These are teaching experiences linked to the community space, with a social sense that was valued to the point where teachers were catechists, counselors, community leaders (^{Luchese & Grazziotin, 2015}, p. 354).

Teacher Genoveva stayed many years working as a private teacher in what we call Italian school. When it comes to schools in Antônio Prado and in the region, it is possible to identify, as mentioned by ^{Luchese (2015}) and ^{Rech and Luchese (2018}), different typologies. There were the so-called Italian schools, with marked differences between urban and rural ones, between those maintained by lay associations or mutual aid, those linked to religious congregations, such as Salesians and Scalabrinians, and finally, ethnic-community schools maintained by the families of a community. In 1908, there were two Italian mixed schools in Antônio Prado, attended by 129 students - 79 boys and 50 girls (^{Ministero..., 1908}, p. 14).

In addition, the public schools are noteworthy, as they were diverse as well. State public schools could have appointed or subsidized teachers⁵². In the period under study, state schools operated in rented spaces provided by the municipality or the community. According to ^{Werle (2005}), subsidies granted by the state to the municipalities were intended to disseminate public education and were paid quarterly from the presentation of certificates of practice, with the knowledge of the sub-intendant or teaching inspector.

Public schools also comprehended those created and maintained by the municipality and municipal grants, which were also identified. Table 1 below presents Antônio Prado’s state public schools, in three different years - 1901, 1903 and 1906. It is possible to see changes in the location of the schools, as well as the teachers’ permanence or absence. We highlight another interesting matter for the period - classes created but not provided. It is the case of the 11^th class, which, between 1903 and 1906, was not taught by a state teacher. The non-provision of classes was recurrent throughout RS.

In Table 1, in addition to relatively constant removals and transfers, we draw attention to the appointment, for instance, of the sisters Natalina and Delphina, both graduates from the normal school of Porto Alegre. Georgina and Julieta were sisters as well. But it was possible to establish other networks of sociability and kinship, as explained ahead. In Table 2, after consultation to several documents⁵⁸, we present the teachers who worked in Antônio Prado between 1890 and 1910. For the reading of Tables 2 and 3 below, ‘year-year’ means that there are records of the teacher working in the dated period, whereas ‘year, year’ means that, in the first and second referenced years, records of practice were found. For ‘After 1920’, we do not need the end of the practice. As for the use of the acronyms: SMS = Subsidized municipal school; SPS = State public school; SSS = Subsidized state school; SMSS= Subsidized municipal and state school, as the grant was not fixed, varying in the period under study.

The list comprises a total of 29 teachers. With regard to the number of public classes, Antônio Prado, RS, went through an impermanence. Until 1899, there were three classes operating. After that, there were three to nine classes until 1910, with the impermanence being linked to teacher turnover, verified by the years with records of the teachers working in the municipality. Some worked for a short period in a school in the countryside, coming from distant municipalities to teach in Antônio Prado. Even so, the high number of teachers for a small and sparsely populated location is noteworthy, especially when it comes to bureaucratic matters (professional’s hiring and appointment).

Intendant Innocencio would ask the State for financial and human assistance, being favored many times. It should be considered, as reported by ^{Biavaschi (2011}), that the intendant would be one of those who most resorted to the government, with patronage and coronelism practices⁶¹. This is certainly not a fact restricted to Antônio Prado, as RS was characterized by the expansion of the State’s school network, spread through subsidies in colonial areas (^{Rech & Luchese, 2018}).

Regarding their origin, most of the teachers were not from Antônio Prado, but from Porto Alegre or other municipalities, who had passed sufficiency exams and were sent to the different regions of the State, which partly explains the circulation, removals, and transfer requests. The issue of the teaching and learning process that took place in the classes with Portuguese-speaking teachers and students who were immigrants, or their children deserves attention, as this required adaptations and tactics as to teaching and learning.

Regarding the selection of teachers, we found a list with names and oral tests schedules. Several teachers working in Antônio Prado took oral tests for the selection in July 1905, held at the Secretariat of the General Inspectorate of Public Instruction in Porto Alegre. This was the case on July 9, when Francisco Busatto, Florêncio José da Silva, Joaquim Borges de Castilhos and João Pereira da Rosa participated. Maddalena Meneguzzo and Adélia do Figueiredo Menezes, in their turn, took their test on the 10^th, and João Evangelista Andrade Saraiva, on the 14^th (^{A Federação, 1905}a). Afterwards, a call was registered for “[...] the provision of rural schools in the State” (^{A Federação, 1905}b, p. 2). Four of the teachers who took the test were working in Antônio Prado in 1905, as shown in Table 1.

With the emancipation, there was an increase in the number of teachers and schools. Also noteworthy is the predominance of teachers of Portuguese origin, which was the case of Claudino Antônio da Ventura Homem, resident in 1909 in Antônio Prado; in 1900, he was teaching a class in Pinheiral, Santa Cruz (^{A Federação, 1900}), then was displaced to Soledade, where he requested to move to Taquara in 1907, which was denied (^{A Federação, 1907}), and after a year, his removal to Antônio Prado was granted (^{A Federação, 1908}c). Claudino’s example was not isolated, and the difficulties of adaptation, or even of settling down in distant municipalities, generated a constant movement of teachers and caused many classes not to be provided for years. In the next table, we present the teachers who worked between the years 1911 and 1920. The reading of the dates and acronyms follows the explanation from the previous table.

The 48 abovementioned teachers started their activities between 1911 and 1920 in Antônio Prado, RS. Thus, the period was characterized by the insertion of immigrants and their children who lived in Antônio Prado. With ^{Decree No. 1895 (1912})⁶², there was an expansion of schooling due to grants by the State. Moreover, pursuant to Art. 2, the municipality started to apply selection tests, increasing the possibility of a resident taking over, which generated new dynamics in the school environment.

The expansion after 1912 allowed the insertion of more female teachers. ^{Aragão and Kreutz (2010}, p. 110) state that “[...] teaching translated into the way out for women who wanted to dedicate themselves to other activities, without having to leave their home and children, since they could work part-time only [...]” , which gradually drove away men, who ended up looking for other professions (^{Jacques, 2015}). The subjects, as proposed by ^{Hall (2006}, p. 11, author’s emphasis), can be seen as social beings, as each one will be “[...] formed and modified in a continuous dialogue with the cultural worlds ‘outside’ and the identities which they offer”.

The construction of a network of relationships as a group of ‘teachers’ showed narratives produced collectively and, at the same time, with each subject’s own specific characteristics, linked to the sense of belonging and (de)constructed processes. The previous tables draw attention to the teachers’ short period of practice, and for a more detailed analysis, we present Figure 1.

Source: Prepared by the authors from the previous tables

Figure 1 Teachers’ length of practice 

Figure 1 reaffirms the impermanence in the investigated period. It is possible to see that most teachers worked for short periods, from one to three years, in Antônio Prado. A smaller number stayed from five to seven years, and only a few of them taught ten or more years in that place. Among those who stayed longer, we list Florêncio José da Silva, Maddalena Meneguzzi and Genoveva Scotti, who stayed for more than two decades; Miguel Frigotto, on the other hand, started before ^{Decree No. 1895 (1912}) and stayed for at least more than a decade, followed by Maria Lunardi, Albano Donadel, Guido Andreoni, Pascoal Meneguzzi, Arthur Bogoni, Carolina Pansera, Marcos Baptistin, Antonio Tondello and Thereza Antoniutti, who started soon after the decree and appear in the records working in education after 1920 (^{Almanak Laemmert, 1926}).⁶⁴

To explain this impermanence, we can took the wages into account, but in Antônio Prado we did not identify differences in the amounts that do not depend on the location or whether it is a boy’s, girl’s or mixed class. Between 1912 and 1920, a teacher earned 600$000 réis annually, the same amount as that of a municipal inspector (^{AHMAP, 1914-1923}), monthly, with the salary being paid quarterly. In 1914, for comparison purposes⁶⁵, intendant Innocencio earned 3:000$000 annually, and the secretary of the Council, 420$000 (AHMAP, 1915).

In addition to wages, bonuses were a common thing, which began still in 1899 and were paid to teachers who could remedy the lack of other teachers in classes that were not filled (^{AHMAP, 1912}). Until 1912, they corresponded to 30$000 monthly, when they rose to 50$000, the same amount as that of other places that also did this in the State (A Federação, 1913a). This last amount was equivalent to another contract, although the teacher could not count on the amount as being fixed. It is possible to see that the salaries of the State’s primary teachers were low (^{Corsetti, 1998}), and in Antônio Prado, delays and even lack of payment⁶⁶ were common (^{AHMAP, 1899-1913}). In addition to the salary issue, distance from the family, the place to reside, available school supplies, and a whole set of variables involving the classes, students and families, as well as other conditions, may have interfered with one’s decision on staying or not in Antônio Prado, and even on teaching.

Teachers, in addition to teaching itself, had bonds and established relationships with communities. Besides the educational role, it is important to understand the dynamics and complex relationships they mobilized (^{Bensa, 1998}). So is valuing the relationships of these subjects with the social environment, bringing their history and their experiences into that setting (^{Burke, 1992}), because, as ^{Revel (1998}, p. 25) explains, “[...] it is not enough for the historian to take up the language of the actors they study, but to make it an indication of a work that is both broader and deeper: that of building plural and plastic social identities that operate through a close network of relationships”.

Reducing the scale of observation while thinking about teachers allows “[...] understanding how social configurations and processes are constituted, through an intensive and close study of their movements, agents and sources” (^{Aquino, 2019}, p. 28). The ties found between the subjects and local political situations is one point. Teacher Caetano Reginatto, for instance, worked in Nova Roma in the 1910s; additionally, he was a postal agent (^{Almanak Laemmert, 1917}), became a delegate (^{Relatório..., 1920}), was Innocencio de Mattos Miller’s vice-intendant, then took over as intendant (^{Biavaschi, 2011}). Caetano was Antônio Prado’s 2^nd intendant. Reginatto was part of a large family with good financial conditions. He was one of the youngest children of Antonio Reginato II and Lucia Gazzola. Born in 1885 in Italy, he immigrated as a child. In Brazil, he married Edviges Araldi in 1913 (^{Antônio Prado (RS), 1913}). During the 1893 Federalist Revolution, his father was murdered (^{Barbosa, 1980}), and most of the children were young. A possible personal motivation for the position that Caetano took in relation to politics.

He also participated in actions outside the schools, making his presence felt and acting on different fronts, such as religious events (^{Barbosa, 1980}), and organizing political celebrations in the Nova Roma district. He achieved notoriety and became a speaker at political events, being also permanently inserted in public offices. As Antonio Prado’s intendant, there was an indication of special attention to the school, with the creation, for instance, of the Teacher Ulisses Cabral School Group (^{Barbosa, 1980}).

In addition to Caetano, other teachers had ties with politics. Joaquim Borges de Castilhos suffered with political fights (^{O Brazil, 1910}), which Innocencio’s vice-intendant, at the time intendant Cristiano Ziegler, also left with injuries⁶⁷. José Victor de Castro was another presence in the records, as he wrote to the government reporting on the political situation of the municipality and, just as Caetano, was present at the Intendance’s events. He served as a teacher from 1898 to 1907, becoming an inspector the following year. Finally, he resigned after being appointed a civil servant (^{A Federação, 1908}b), a position he held for at least a decade (^{Almanak Laemmert, 1917}), and one might think that moving to different roles meant better remuneration. His link and permanence with the municipality can also be explained by the fact that his children stayed in Antônio Prado.

In the case of teacher José Fialho de Vargas, he was secretary of the Intendance at the same time as he taught. He married a resident and, after 1920, took over the direction of the local School Group, which was supported by the intendant and former teacher Caetano Reginato. Thus, it is possible to see a dynamic network of sociabilities in which subjects play some roles and move around, with some of their actions being justified or supported due to the nuances found when we look at their past or their ties with the community and the environment.

It is noticed that “[...] there is an intrinsic relationship between major facts and ordinary events, often disregarded by historical analyses. Or that were so for a long time” (^{Santos, 2018}, p. 28), and for this reason, the same author explains that “[...] the analysis of political and social constructions cannot be restricted only to the sphere of major events [...]”, so we reinforce the look at minor facts and a critical, differentiated interpretation in order to understand school subjects.

Seeking to establish networks of relationships among teachers, we think about what ^{Santos (2018}) calls ‘constitutive modalities’ in his work to understand social networks. He supports the existence of four modalities: party relationships, confessional religious relationships, economic and family relationships, and among them, within the group, at least one would unite individuals for the sense of belonging. We focus on the analysis of family relationships, one of the evidenced modalities, to reflect on teachers and the constitution of this network.

It is known that the “[...] insertion of the family network within the large social network is a way of more securely supporting the pursuit of interests and needs, both individual and collective” (^{Santos, 2018}, for. 90). Regardless of the order of influence, we are interested in establishing connections that will create a link. Thus, we identified that teacher Antonio Tondello married his former student Josephina Bernardi, who also became a teacher later. Antonio was the brother of teacher João Tondello, who married Tereza Antoniutti, who also became a teacher. Tereza Antoniutti was the sister of João Antoniutti, who married Maria José, teacher José Victor de Castro’s daughter.

Other networks can be analyzed. Genoveva De Nale Scotti’s nephew, Angelo Scotti, was brother-in-law of Edviges Araldi, Caetano Reginato’s wife; another niece of Genoveva, Giuseppina, was married to Antonio Citton, brother of Pelegrina, who was married to José Fialho de Vargas; in addition to João Carneiro de Mesquita, who was married to teacher Delfina Maeffer (^{A Federação, 1910}). This network of relationships will remain linking the location not only for the investigated period, as it branches out. The cases discussed serve as an example for us to understand the dynamics of the social setting.

In Antônio Prado, teaching is clearly inherited, that is, different generations take on the role of teachers. The children of teacher Michele, Rosário and Corona, chose the same profession. Similarly, Maddalena Meneguzzo (born Canale) and her children Ercilia and Aires also became teachers; Castorina Albernaz (born Vieira) and her son Justino Vieira Albernaz were teachers as well.

Another constitutive aspect was the proximity between teaching and Catholicism. Most teachers were catechists, acolytes⁶⁸, Eucharist ministers, or had other roles, such as churchwardens⁶⁹. For instance, within the scope of the religious celebration in honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, one of the main activities was coordinated by one of the female teachers. The newspaper announced that “[...] on the 14^th and 15^th, there was a play directed by the acting artist Mrs. Genoveffa Scotti; she was assisted by volunteers and skilled dilettantes who staged the wonderful drama ‘Catholic Heroes, S. Clotilde and the conversion of Clodoveo’” (^{Il Colono Italiano..., 1912}, p.2, author’s emphasis, our translation)⁷⁰. Teaching and practicing Catholicism, being ‘devoted’, was one of the representations of a good teacher, which was deemed important and expected by the community. Another example that was printed on the pages of the newspaper Il Colono Italiano was the news that “[...] in addition to being a diligent teacher, teacher [Michele] Frigotto is also a practical Catholic in every way; and I will not say how appreciable this gift is today, especially for a teacher” (^{Il Colono Italiano..., 1913}, p. 2, our translation).⁷¹

Another tie that we identified among several teachers in Antônio Prado was with newspapers. Some acted as correspondents, as ‘information bearers’ of the social medium, some sent letters, manifestos. Teachers José Fialho de Vargas and João Evangelista Saraiva wrote in the newspaper O Pradense, founded in 1916 in Antônio Prado, with Saraiva being described by ^{Barbosa (1980}, p. 105) as “[...] the measured preacher of good manners and school matters”⁷². Antônio Tondello was a propagandist and distributor of Correio Riograndense in Capela São Roque, where he lived and made his residence available to families for their children to read the newspaper’s articles (^{Correio Riograndense, 1964}). Oftentimes, newspapers such as A Federação or Il Colono, with news about Antônio Prado, were created from letters exchanged with local teachers. As identified by ^{Luchese (2015}, p. 416, author’s emphasis),

The vast majority of the first teachers in the Italian Colonial Region had no pedagogical training. Many of those who taught [...] had primary education only. However, they were, for the most part, the best instructed in the community, and this condition, added to that of them being ‘masters’, brought about prestige, respect and community leadership. Many were the teachers who took on, within the social setting in which they lived, a central role in religious, petition and organization matters, becoming representatives of that group, when not local leaders. These were the representations produced about being a teacher.

Of the various representations and roles took on by the teachers in the communities where they worked, in addition to those already mentioned, they were expected to exhibit an unblemished behavior, represented in attitudes and ways of being, dressing and acting. Teaching as a vocation, the teacher as “[...] mediator with a sacred mission received from God and which should be placed at the service of the community” (^{Kreutz, 2004}, p. 160), educating children in reading, writing, counting and praying, which was expected and desired by Antônio Prado’s families.