Album/Report by the Pequenas Irmãs da Divina Providência: records of social and medical assistance in the coal-producing region of southern Santa Catarina, 1955-1957

Abstract During the first half of the twentieth century, the coal-producing region of Santa Catarina state underwent intense industrialization that directly impacted various ways of life; various health problems emerged in the region as a result of coal mining and impeded economic progress. As the government was unable to meet health demands, local businesses established partnerships with female religious orders that provided assistance services in the villages where workers lived. As part of such a partnership, the Pequenas Irmãs da Divina Providência created an album of texts, drawings, and photographs as a report describing their activities from 1955 to 1957 in one such village in the region.