Aims and objectives
The Fundação Cultural da Barra Mansa in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, has a collection of about 15,000 historically significant lawsuits. All in paper format, this collection consists of civil, criminal and labour lawsuits dating from 1811 to 1983. There is no other archive in Brazil with such a vast collection of lawsuits from a single city. Barra Mansa was one of the largest coffee producing regions in the 19th century and a wealthy city. In this collection, there are cases on slaves who fought for their freedom, labour disputes from the early twentieth century and inventories that provide insight into the local history. The documents cover a large timeframe: the beginning and end of slavery, the Empire, the Republic, and various other significant moments in Brazilian history. Unfortunately, the current storage of this material puts the collection in a precarious state. In February 2023, the foundation's building was severely damaged, resulting in the Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro taking custody of around 5,000 lawsuits (1/3 of the material). As a result, this collection has been split between two separate locations.
