From Slavery to the Printing Press: The Trajectory of Joanna Maria do Rozario Costa (1828–1891), a woman from Northeastern Brazil

a trajetória da nordestina Joanna Maria do Rozario Costa (1828–1891)

Abstract

The capital of the Province of Parahyba do Norte was the site of a subversive experiment led by Joanna Maria do Rozario Costa. Born into slavery, after the death of her partner, the typographer José Rodrigues da Costa, she became one of the main administrators of the printing business, including newspapers. Thus, based on her trajectory, this study aims to investigate her role in directing the periodical O Publicador, which circulated in the second half of the 19th century, as well as her administration as co-owner of the printing press left as an inheritance to her children. To this end, data obtained from the following sources will be cross-referenced: newspapers, baptismal and death records, and court proceedings. The theoretical framework used deals with the presence of women in the 19th-century press, based on studies of Cultural History, Women, and the Press. The research of (Duarte, 2016), Socorro (Barbosa, 2009), and (Peixoto, 2023), who use printed materials as a source and/or object of study, is of great use.