Prescot Dig

(Im)migrant

Urban archaeology... This image brings together stories from three parts of the world... When the last Brazilian emperor, Dom Pedro II, finally abolished slavery in 1888, a huge demand for free labour was created in Brazil. The end of Brazil as a slave owning society was at hand, and the new republic was just around the corner. The era of the coffee barons and the rising power of the urban elite of São Paulo was at hand. Coffee would become the commodity that defined an era in Brazillian history, the beans culitvated in the interior of São Paulo and Minas would be exported to the rest of the world. Millions of tonnes of this through the Port of Santos. In southern Europe, and most specifically in the Mezzogiorno, rural poverty was reaching a hitherto unseen levels. Mass emigration from these regions to the new world is something that has shaped South America as much as it shaped North America. Brazil received millions of rural workers at this time, men and women arriving at the port of Santos with nothing except the hope of work on the booming coffee plantations. At least that's the story. In truth, people of many types arrived in Brazil wanting a fresh start, the promise of land or opportunity far from the feudal societies of Southern Europe. The world's only superpower, the British Empire, had influence that extended well beyond the bounds of its possessions, protectorates, dominions and territories. As the factory of the world, the most industrialised and powerful nation, there was an obvious appeal for British manufactured goods and services all over the world. In this photo we are seeing the window of a train carriage built by the São Paulo Railway Company Ltd (SPR). In 1859, thirty years before the abolition of slavery, the Baron of Mauá commissioned British engineers to build a railway that could climb the 800 mountainous meters up from the coast at Santos to the plain on which São Paulo is located. The engineering feat was considered a marvel of the age. The mountains were only crossed again by a new route in 1937. These three stories come together in Braz; a squalid, devastated, inner city area of São Paulo. The railway company, based here, operated the route hauling coffee from inland to the port and on the return journey came the immigrants. Immigrants were stopped in Braz in a receiving centre, something similar to but less iconic than Ellis Island. This train and this view were the first things they saw in the new country. Things went on like this right through the end of the 19th century and the early 20th century. The railway company was nationalised in the 1940s and entered a decline that continues to today. Industrialisation came and went. The British disappeared almost without trace. The Italians learned to speak Portuguese and started to eat rice and beans on the same plate as their spaghetti. Braz today looks like a scene from post war Europe. Half demolished buildings sit alongside factories. Destroyed infrastructure projects criss cross the neighbourhood. Buildings are razed to make space for impromptu car parks. Little houses have been turned into ramshackle recycling centres and workshops. There is a huge homeless population living on the street. The buildings are covered in the spidery graffiti style typical of urban Brazil. This is the Braz you see from the train window today.