As viagens da Princesa Isabel ao sul de Minas Gerais (1868) como estratégia para o ensino de história local e pesquisa

Abstract

This paper presents and develops new perspectives and practices for local history teaching, aimed at high school students, in the historical context of the second half of the 19th century in southern Minas Gerais. In particular, it analyzes Princess Isabel's travels to the hydromineral resorts of the Minas Gerais province in 1868, and her sojourn in the cities: Carmo de Minas, Cristina, Itajubá and Delfim Moreira (Soledade de Itajubá). Along ten years, the Princess sought all types of treatments for infertility, including trips to the thermal resorts of Caxambu (Baependi) and Lambari (Campanha), where she bathed in the “miraculous” waters in an attempt to make her uterus fertile. This work proposes a local, social, economic and political approach for the development of history teaching about southern Minas Gerais based on the presence of the crown Princess in the region, in a way that allows basic education students and the population of these cities to have a deeper knowledge of their own history. In fact, this subject, when approached by teachers, local authors and other specialists is presented superficially and often without any historiographical basis.The research also carries out a survey of the area to be explored by Isabel, between September and December 1868, from the methodological perspective of micro-history as a teaching strategy. The didactic proposal includes research and analysis of historical sources from the cities visited by Isabel, through the individual or collective construction of the Imperial Passport and the Logbook, so that activities on the local history of the municipalities stimulate the creativity and participation of students, the local population, and people from other regions. The paths traveled by Isabel serve as a backdrop for the appreciation of the identity, history, and memory of southern Minas Gerais in the second half of the nineteenth century.