Historical collections and files

The history of Brazil is represented in historical collections and files of several institutions of the country. Visit the website of each of the institutions mentioned below (all contents are in Portuguese) for more information about the collection and the visiting hours.

National Archives  (Arquivo Nacional) [content in Portuguese]

Rio de Janeiro (RJ) and Brasília (DF)

The National Archives’ headquarters, in Rio de Janeiro, has a collection composed of textual documents of the Executive, Legislative and Judiciary Powers and private collections from the colonial period until today. The National Archives maintains correspondences from the Portuguese Ultramarine Empire, files that came to Brazil in 1808, brought by D. João VI, original texts from the Constitution of 1824 and the Lei Áurea [The Golden Law] and records of the entry of immigrants in the country, among other documents.

Maps and plants, projects, photographs, works and documents dated from the XVIII to XX centuries, for example, compose the audiovisual and cartographic collection of the National Archives in Rio.

The National Archives also has a regional coordination in the Federal District with a database composed of the collections of three extinct bodies: The Serviço Nacional de Informações – SNI [National Information Service – SNI], the Conselho de Segurança Nacional – CSN [National Security Council – CSN] and the Comissão Geral de Investigações – CGI [General Committee for Investigations – CGI].

National Library Foundation (Fundação Biblicoteca Nacional) [content in Portuguese]

Rio de Janeiro (RJ)

The National Library has collections with monographs and dissertations dated from the XVIII century, technical dictionaries, encyclopedias, atlas, maps and gathers collections related to European works produced in the XIX century, rare impressions, photographs and illustrations.

It has also the largest classical and popular music collection of the Latin America, with the first editions of songwriters from the XVIII and XIX centuries and works composed by renowned Brazilian music artists.

Part of the collection of Fundação Biblioteca Nacional can be found on the Internet. Click here for more informations .

 Imperial Museum (Museu Imperial) [content in Portuguese]

Petrópolis (RJ)

The historical archive of the Museu Imperial has a total of about 250 thousand records from the XIII century to the early XX century, especially documents dated from the XIX century, a rich material for researchers, TV screenwriters, filmmakers, songwriters and scenographers of samba schools. The main subjects related to the country can be found in the archive, which also has a great collection of photographs.

Museum of the Republic (Museu da República) [content in Portuguese]

Rio de Janeiro (RJ)

Materials about the Brazilian Republican period compose the historical archive of the Museu da República. There are about 90 thousand items, like handwritten and printed documents, photographs and maps, which register the private and public life of renowned names of the history. Among the main collections there are photographs that depict the Canudos War.

Besides, the Museu da República houses a library and a museum studies department in charge of the preservation of the exposed objects and the ornamental and architectonic elements of the palace that houses the museum. The sector has thousand of pieces related to the Republic, like furniture, medals, paints, swords and cavalry swords of presidents and politicians.

National Arts Foundation (Fundação Nacional de Artes – Funarte) [content in Portuguese]

Rio de Janeiro (RJ)

The arts documentation and Information Center (Cedoc) of Funarte has more than 1 million documents about plastic and graphic arts, music, photography, drama, dancing, circus, opera, cinema and video, in addition to materials that tell the history of Funarte itself. The formats include books, periodicals, drama texts, long plays, photographs, movie scripts, scenery and costumes designs, dossiers of celebrities and events etc. The Cedoc also has files and collections donated by renowned people linked to arts in Brazil.

Brazilian CIinemateque (Cinemateca Brasileira) [content in Portuguese]

São Paulo (SP)

With the biggest collection of moving images in the Latin America, the Cinemateca Brasileira has about 200 thousand film reels, which correspond to 30 thousand titles produced since 1895. They are fiction works, documentary films, newsreels, advertising films and familiar records of Brazil and other countries. The Cinematheque has the images collection of extinct TV Tupi, the first Brazilian television broadcasting company. You can find in the library of the place several printed cinema documents. There are personal files of renowned Brazilian movie reviewers and filmmakers.

National Museum of Fine Arts (Museu Nacional de Belas Artes) [content in Portuguese]

Rio de Janeiro (RJ)

The collection of the Museu Nacional de Belas Artes has more than 16 thousand pieces, including Brazilian and international paints, sculptures, drawings and pictures, besides ornamental art, furniture, medals, coins, folk art and African art. The museum also has a library specialized in plastic arts from the XIX and XX centuries, with rare works and a collection of periodicals, monographs and catalogs of national and international exhibitions.

Casa de Rui Barbosa Foundation (Fundação Casa de Rui Barbosa) [content in Portuguese]

Rio de Janeiro (RJ)

Family and personal files and collections of renowned celebrities of the history of Brazil are part of the foundation’s collection as well as about 60 thousand documents produced and received between 1849 and 1923 by Rui Barbosa, which was a minister, journalist, lawyer and ambassador. The foundation has an institutional archive that tells its own history, with photographs, architectonic drawings, posters, audiotapes and also exhibits a collection of 8 thousand cordel pamphlets and literature about the theme. Click here to acess the foundation archive.

 Institute for National Artistic and Historical Heritage (Instituto do Patrimônio Histórico e Artístico Nacional – Iphan) [content in Portuguese]

Rio de Janeiro (RJ)

The Arquivo Noronha Santos [Noronha Santos Archive], based in Rio de Janeiro, houses and preserves textual documents, photographs, pictures and drawings that constitute an important tool for the study of the State’s policies and practices in the preservation of the Brazilian cultural heritage. Iphan also has a database with the collection of images and photographs registered with the institute. This iconographic collection can be accessed at the website.

Historical Archive of the Brazilian Army (Arquivo Histórico do Exército) [content in Portuguese]

Rio de Janeiro (RJ)

Handwritten and printed documents, photographs, pictures and videos that tell the history of the Brazilian Army and its actions after the country’s independence are part of this archive. Such materials include officers’ almanacs, magazines, documents on peace missions and images of military fortresses and general headquarters. The archive also contains a map collection, with maps and plans of all the Brazilian states and some countries of the South America, mainly from the period between the XVIII and XX centuries.

Archive of the Navy (Arquivo da Marinha) [content in Portuguese]

Rio de Janeiro (RJ)

The archive of the Navy has more than 30 million records since the XVIII century until today. It includes collections like editions of the “Diário Oficial da União” [Federal Register], photographs, movies, videos and books of warships. At the Espaço Cultural da Marinha [Navy Cultural Space], the visitor has the opportunity to know the D. João VI Galliot, a vessel built in 1808, submarines and helicopters. At the library, the collection of over 60 thousand books, leaflets, periodicals and maps is specialized in general history of Brazil, marine history and cartography (maps).

 The Brazilian Aerospace Museum (Museu Aeroespacial) [content in Portuguese]

Rio de Janeiro (RJ)

In its several thematic rooms, the Museu Aeroespacial tells the history of aviation and Air Force in Brazil, with aircrafts, photographs, weapons used in air fightings, documents, medals, books and videos, among other materials. There are also rooms that present the functioning of the Brazilian air space control system, engines used in the First World War and flight simulators used for cadet flight training.

 Oswaldo Cruz House (Casa de Oswaldo Cruz) [content in Portuguese]

Rio de Janeiro (RJ) 

The largest Brazilian collection about the history of the biomedical sciences and public health is the Casa de Oswaldo Cruz, which is named after the famous sanitarian and medical doctor born in 1872. Textual, iconographic and audiovisual documents dated from the XIX century are available in institutional funds, collections and private archives. The Casa de Oswaldo Cruz library has about 28 thousand items, with bibliographic material from collections of scientists, medical doctors, researchers and other professionals of the health area. Click here to acess the library collection.

Other Historic Collections and Archives: [content in Portuguese]

Public state and the Federal District’s archives 

Museums throughout Brazil

Source:
National Association of History