Museu da Imigração do Estado de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

The Museu da Imigração do Estado de São Paulo (Immigration Museum of the State of São Paulo, or IM) is a place of history and memory that occupies the centennial building of the former Immigrant Inn of São Paulo, through which more than 2.5 million people passed between 1887 and 1978. Some of these came from other states in Brazil, but the absolute majority were immigrants coming from more than seventy different nations. The construction of the inn began in 1886 due to the imminent end of slavery (in May 1888) and the expansion of coffee plantations in Rio de Janeiro and especially in São Paulo. At the time, introducing workers from abroad appeared to be the solution for the transition between slave and paid labor. In addition, the measure was seen as contributing to the whitening of the population, so desired by an important group of elites. Even before it was finished, the inn started to receive its first immigrants in 1887, with the objective to receive, provide accommodation for, and put these people on the way to their places of work. In 1978, shortly after receiving its last group of immigrants (from Korea), the inn closed down. In 1982, the building was declared a historic monument, and four years later the Historical Center of Immigrants was created at the site, marking the beginning of the museum project.

Archaeology · Art · Centennial · Economic history · Ethnology · Geography · Humanities · Immigration · Political science · Population · Sociology · State (computer science) · Demography · History · Migration, Ethnicity, and Economy · Migration, Racism, and Human Rights · Urban and sociocultural dynamics