The history of the Alcoutim Children's Bathing Colony will be on display at the Municipal Museum

Over four years (1959-1962), more than a thousand children from Alcoutim went to the beach of Monte Gordo

On the 26th of September, the Municipal Museum of Alcoutim will open an exhibition on the community project “Colónia Banear Infantil de Alcoutim (1959-1962)”. 

On the same day, the second edition of the homonymous book, by Celina Moura Arroz, will be presented at Escola Básica Prof. Joaquim Moreira, in Martim Longo.

This exhibition is based on the research and publication of Celina Moura Arroz, who reconstructs a social event in the history of the community in the municipality of Alcoutim that was the foundation of the bathing colony for school-age children on the beach of Monte Gordo, between 1959 and 1962.

This social work, «happy and deeply human, opened other windows for these children to peek into another non-rural world and would strengthen the physical development of children, created by the mayor, Artur de Moura (1959-1963)», says the authority, in a press release.

Over four years (1959-1962), more than a thousand children went to Praia de Monte Gordo.

The project involved the community (primary teachers and young girls to guard children in the colony) in the preparation and execution, with funding from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and other state social institutions. The children's uniform clothing, to be worn during the time spent at the bathing colony, including the bathing suits, as well as the bed linen, was made by seamstresses from Martim Longo, coordinated by Maria José Lopes.

The exhibition “Colónia Balnear Infantil de Alcoutim (1959-1962)” is part of a strategy to decentralize the cultural actions of the Municipal Museum and will travel through the parishes of Martim Longo, Vaqueiros and Giões and in the villages of Pereiro and Alcoutim, headquarters of the Union of Parishes of Alcoutim and Pereiro.

 



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