Research update

Today is the Dia de Finados (like Día de los Muertos in many Spanish-speaking countries), a national holiday in Brazil, so I have the day off and some time to blog.  I’ve been here for two weeks now and am having a good time and feeling rejuvenated with my research.  I like the town of Cáceres.  It is much smaller than Cuiabá, easier to get around, and the academic community here has been super welcoming and helpful.  The only down side is the relentless heat.  Highs in the upper 90s/low 100s…and I doubt it gets much cooler than upper 80s at night.  Now is the hottest time of the year in this part of Brazil.  The heavy rain and (slightly) cooler temperatures won’t arrive until late December or January.

I’m no longer cataloging the Daveron collection.  After cataloging one full box of correspondence (which means reading each document and writing a description for each), I decided that I wouldn’t have enough time to both finish my research and catalog the collection.  I felt bad having to back out, but unfortunately time is of the essence.  I did, however, manage to make it through his collection and another and am overall happy with what I found.

Next week I’m going to move on to the Descalvados collection and then the Arquivo Municipal after that.  The Daveron collection was fascinating for me.  The part I enjoyed the most was his photograph albums, filled with pictures taken from the 1930s through the 1980s.  I love historic photographs and plan to use the images I’ve found this year as sources for my dissertation.  Here are a few of my favorites.  

Alexander Daveron - Photo courtesy of NUDHEO, UNEMAT, Cáceres, Mato Grosso

Daveron the hunter, with tuiuiú (Jabiru stork) - Photo courtesy of NUDHEO, UNEMAT, Cáceres, Mato Grosso

Daveron (middle) and his work crew - Photo courtesy of NUDHEO, UNEMAT, Cáceres, Mato Grosso