The commemoration of the centenary of Passo Fundo/RS and the campaign to remove the “prostitution district” in the pages of the press

Abstract

The present work aims to demonstrate how the commemorations of thecentenary of Passo Fundo, that occurred in 1957, were used as a bastion of a campaignby the local press to remove the zone of the prostitution, located in the central area ofthe city. In the midst of a process of redefinition of the shape of the Brazilian press, thetwo newspapers of the city engaged in this campaign, acting as articulators of interestsof the groups involved with the organization of the centenary. In addition to presentingthe research in two newspapers since the beginning of the 1950s, which demonstrate thestrategies used to accomplish that removal, the article also seeks to clarify a confluenceof interests and actors involved both with the organizing committee of the celebrationsand with political and economic sectors, particularly agents of real estate speculation.Thus, it aims to reveal an articulation of interests of different sectors of society that usedthe celebrations of the centenary to justify their goals.