EDUCATION OF POOR AND BLACK GIRLS IN SÃO BERNARDO DAS RUSSAS-CE: HISTORY AND MEMORY OF THE SAGRADO CORAÇÃO SCHOOL (1938-1969)

This article aims to investigate, from an intersectional perspective, the historical trajectory mediated by the memory of poor and black students who studied at the Sagrado Coração School/Free School. Methodologically, a study was carried out based on institutional documents, newspaper sources and oral reports from former students and nuns. The methodology is developed from the approach of the qualitative method, of an exploratory nature and content analysis; in relation to the research procedures, it is configured as bibliographic and documentary, due to the specificities of the sources and the theoretical-conceptual approaches. We also used the field research technique in the form of semi-structured interviews. It is concluded that the School Sacred Heart was created due to the lack of public education policies, serving poor, black girls from the city's outskirts. These girls were impacted by social and educational differences – a kind of territorial segregation, as evidenced in the sources – issues related to the intersections of social class, gender and race. However, despite all the contradictions, the school was configured as a space of possibilities for social and gender advancement.