Ibicaba Farm Records

This collection of ledgers and business records from the Ibicaba Farm documents the economic system of agricultural labor in Brazil that ultimately consolidated mass immigration. Starting in the 1840s, plantations in southwestern Brazil experiment with European immigrant labor co-existing with the enslaved black population. The Ibicaba Farm was a pioneer in such process and this collection tracks the development of this system. The digitized ledgers provide access to data relevant to labor history; economics of contractual design; sociology of immigration; political history of labor and immigration to Brazil; and cultural life in a plantation-based society following the transition from slavery. The content revolves around the farm’s administration, daily life, and economic production. The accounting books, for instance, include information about laborers’ daily activities, productivity under various contracts, workers’ remunerations, and livelihoods. Such content will present a part of history of both Brazilians and immigrant workers of various nationalities. This is especially valuable to any descendants of the farm workers who seek to explore their ancestry.