The IHGB and the writing of provincial histories: some considerations

Abstract

Writing about the histories of the provinces in imperial Brazil was valuable for learning about the local past, illuminating nebulous facts, mapping the territory, contributing to the construction of an identity through the sharing of a common narrative.In this context, the proposal to create the InstitutoHistórico e GeográficoBrasileiro presented an idea of centralizing knowledge about parts of the Empire, in addition to launching a series of historical programs to organize the stages of research.This centralist aspect, however, did not discourage the production of reports from the provinces, about which many scholars wrote even though they were not members of the Institute, or were admitted after offering a local work.In this article, a brief analysis of some of these stories helps demonstrate the importance they had in the project of writing national history.