Valença railway Hhritage [state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil]: erasure resistance

Abstract

This study presents the processes of (re)construction of railway memory in the city of Valença, Rio de Janeiro. From the 19th century until the 1970s, several companies operated railroads that ran through the entire city. Based on the notion of memory place, we proposed to analyze the processes of memory reconstruction in spaces such as the Railroad Museum, the “Associação União Valenciana para Preservação Ferroviária” (UVAFER) and the of Former Students of the Mário de Castilhos Professional School. For the construction of this research, we seek a methodology that handles the work with two distinct types of document sources. Regarding the Railroad Museum of Valença, the collection formed by Sebastião Victor throughout his life will be analyzed, including the museum itself as a historic document. To analyze the motivations that culminated in the return of three train wagon that were manufactured in the city in 2018, we started research approaching Oral History, seeking to interview UVAFER directors as well as a group of former students from Escola Profissional Mário de Castilhos. It should be noted that the collection and analysis of these discourses also contribute to the understanding of the construction of this memory based on the heritage protection of Valença's railway past in connection with the historiography on the subject.