1
Showing the vitality and the work of Portuguese
engineersThe I National Engineering Meeting
and the Popularization of Technical Knowledge
(Portugal, 1931)

• Maria Paula Diogo
• Centro de História e Filosofia da Ciência e da
  Tecnologia (CHFCT)
• Departamento de Ciências Sociais Aplicadas
• Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia,
  Universidade Nova de Lisboa
• mpdiogo_at_netcabo.pt
• Ana Cardoso de Matos
• Centro Interdisciplinar de História, Culturas e
  Sociedades (CIDEHUS)
• Departamento de História, Universidade de Évora
• anacmatos_at_mail.telepac.pt

2
Showing the work of Portuguese engineers the
meeting and the exhibition

• the engineer as an icon of the modern world, the
  avant-garde and the guardian of progress and
  civilization
• a strategy to gain public recognition a very
  visible event with good media coverage
• the objectives of the meeting were presented to
  the engineering class
• (i) to discuss technical topics in the
  context of the Portuguese modernizing agenda
• (ii) to show the vitality and the work of
  Portuguese engineers
• (iii) to promote and publicize the cult of
  engineering
• the I National Engineering Meeting 7 to the 12
  June 1931

3
Showing the work of Portuguese engineers the
meeting

• participants 357 engineers (all male) plus
  technicians and technologically minded persons,
  industrial firms, representatives of the
  government and of the main industrial and
  business companies (railways, electricity, gas
  and concrete)
• the meeting
• (i) papers (theses) that discussed technical
  questions strongly entangled in national
  economic issues), and papers, which were, in
  fact, descriptive memoirs on public works in the
  mainland and in the colonies
• (ii) five classes, which mirrored the main
  areas of engineering Public Works, Geology and
  Mining, Industrial Chemistry and Metallurgy,
  Mechanics and Electricity.

4
Showing the work of Portuguese engineers the
exhibition

• the exhibition the true public event of the
  meeting
• Cotinelli Telmo, a renowned Portuguese architect
  and film director, authored the poster of the
  exhibition and was also in charge of the spatial
  arrangement of the stands and of the overall
  decoration of the main room.
• the exhibition was opened to the general public
  at the Palace of Fine Arts, between 2 p.m. and
  730 p.m. On the 10 June, the national holyday in
  honour of the poet Luís de Camões, the exhibition
  was visited by the President of the Republic,
  Field Marshal Carmona, who inspected carefully
  all the stands
• upon entering the Palace of Fine Arts what did
  the visitor see? The large main room was the core
  of the exhibition, featuring 70 stands, 48
  bordering the walls of the room and 22 in the
  centre. In the hall 13 other stands complemented
  the exhibition. Among the exhibitors one could
  find governmental departments, business and
  industrial companies, technical schools, and a
  quite significant number of engineers who
  presented their own work
• the stands it is quite clear that the lions
  share is for public works (sanitation, harbours,
  bridges, buildings) with 32 stands (40) if we
  add the transportation networks stands (8, 10),
  closely related to public works, we get a total
  of 40 stands (48) industrial exhibitors hold
  17 stands (20), cartographic services (maps,
  aerial photographs) 8 (10), electrical projects
  (including hydraulic projects) 5 (6) and
  technical education 4 (5) the remaining 9
  stands (11) were very heterogeneous

5
Showing the work of Portuguese engineers the
exhibition

• Showing the work of Portuguese engineers the
  meeting
• the visits to on-going public works and to some
  of the most important industrial facilities near
  Lisbon

6
Showing the work of Portuguese engineers the
exhibition

• (I) Public Works
• (II) Industry
• (III) Others
• (IV) Transportation systems
• (V) Cartography
• (VI) Electricity
• (VII) Teaching
• (I) (II) (III) (IV) (V) (VI) (VII)

7
Seeing the work of Portuguese engineers the
meeting and the exhibition in the newspapers

• Newspapers as a tool for publicizing the National
  Engineering Meeting and the Engineering
  Exhibition
• The newspapersO Século, Diário de Notícias,
  Diário da Manhã, O Comércio do Porto and Diário
  de Coimbra
• The O Século and the Diário de Notícias are
  national newspapers, operating in the all country
  and targeting a very heterogeneous audience. The
  Diário da Manhã, the O Comércio do Porto and the
  Diário de Coimbra are regional newspapers, mostly
  read in Lisbon, Oporto and Coimbra, respectively.
  They emphasize the coverage of local news and
  events and their target is a much more restricted
  audience.
• All of the five newspapers have a general
  political posture in favour of the government,
  but only the Diário da Manhã has an active
  attitude, supporting the dictatorship propaganda
  and praising the Estado Novo and its leader,
  Oliveira Salazar
• The amount and detail of the news on the
  Engineering Meeting and Exhibition is quite
  impressive. In all the newspapers the news on
  these events are always wrapped up in a hymn of
  praise the engineers are the working class the
  representatives of Progress the craftsmen of
  the (...) national rebirth and the papers
  presented at the meeting are valuable and
  powerful contributions to Portugal

8
Seeing the work of Portuguese engineers the
meeting and the exhibition in the newspapers

• The Diário de Notícias
• The news about the Engineering Meeting in the
  Diário de Notícias are always in the front page,
  under strong headlines most of them continue on
  page 2 and include one or two photographs. Apart
  from a few comments in a laudatory style, the
  articles are long and mostly descriptive.
• Engineers are largely praised as leaders of the
  national effort to achieve modernity and the
  strongest pillar of the national rebirth and the
  meeting itself, together with the exhibition are
  considered as an important stimulus to awake the
  national conscience.
• News on the meeting are reported from the 7 to
  the 12 June an abstract of the papers presented
  during the sessions and of the evening lectures
  and a description of the visits and of the social
  programme
• On the 8 June most of the article is dedicated to
  the Engineering Exhibition, referred as
  undoubtedly one of the significant events within
  the meeting activities. Although it was clear
  that the exhibition was only a sample of the work
  of Portuguese engineers, it was, nevertheless, an
  opportunity to show it to the general public.
  Some of the most attractive stands are described,
  in particular the one of the Portuguese Railway
  Company, that displayed a very popular mock-up
  train.
• On the 12 June, the Diário de Notícias gives an
  overall picture of the meeting, considered as a
  technical meeting of high standards and
  concludes
• The I National Engineering Meeting allowed
  Portuguese engineers, one of the most important
  professional classes, to discuss and present
  valuable ideas and remarkable solutions to the
  most important issues concerning not only
  national engineering but above all the
  Portuguese urge for development..

9
Seeing the work of Portuguese engineers the
meeting and the exhibition in the newspapers

• The O Século
• The I National Engineering Meeting is also front
  page news in the O Século. The articles are
  quite long and they usually occupy three columns
  in the first page, two or three columns on the
  second page and, some times, a smaller reference
  on page 5, under the headline Últimas (Last
  Minutes News). They usually include one or two
  photographs.
• News on the meeting are reported from the 7 to
  the 12 June abstract of the papers presented
  during the sessions and of the evening lectures
  and a description of the visits and of the social
  programme
• On the 8 June the opening of the Engineering
  Exhibition, an event of the uppermost
  importance, is thoroughly described first a
  colourful overview of the last minute
  preparations, then a summary of all the speeches,
  a list of the stands, with a special mention to
  the mock-up train which caused a roar of
  applause. According to the newspaper thousands
  visited the exhibition during the afternoon

10
Seeing the work of Portuguese engineers the
meeting and the exhibition in the newspapers

• The Diário da Manhã
• The Diário da Manhã published its news about the
  I National Engineering Meeting on pages eleven
  and fifteen. Nevertheless the newspaper brought
  to its readers an extensive coverage of the
  meeting. Being a much more politically oriented
  newspaper, the contents of the coverage are
  moulded to serve the regimes propaganda, namely
  the idea of the national rebirth and national
  pride. They usually include one or two
  photographs.
• News on the meeting are reported from the 8 to
  the 12 June abstract of the papers presented
  during the sessions and of the evening lectures
  and a description of the visits and of the social
  programme.
• On the 8 June the Engineering Exhibition is the
  highlight of the day. The article begins by
  pointing out that the Ministry of Trade visited
  the exhibition in the afternoon paying full
  attention to the details of each stand and
  proceeds with an overview of the exhibitors
  present in this curious exhibition. The mock-up
  train at the stand of the Portuguese Railway
  Company is highly praised, as well as a variety
  of engineering instruments and works deeply
  interesting to the non-specialist.
• Although it may seems paradoxical it is the
  Diário da Manhã that pays more attention to the
  social life of the meeting, describing it in a
  quite vivid way.

11
Seeing the work of Portuguese engineers the
meeting and the exhibition in the newspapers

• The Comércio do Porto
• There is a very clear difference concerning both
  the length and the frequency of the news on the I
  National Engineering Meeting. This is perfectly
  natural as the event was held in Lisbon and the
  300 km that separate the two cities were enough
  to fade away the details of the event. The news
  appear on page 5 and 7, within the section
  Diário de Lisboa em O Comércio do Porto
  (Lisbon News in the Comércio do Porto), and they
  are easily identified by headlines. They usually
  occupy 3 out of 8 columns of each page and they
  are organized into subtitles which are mostly
  economically minded for instance in the Diário
  de Notícias or in the O Século, the papers
  presented at the Electricity section are
  published under the subtitle Discussion papers
  at the Electricity Section while in the O
  Comércio do Porto the subtitle reads
  Electrification and agriculture.
• News on the meeting are reported on the 9, 11 and
  12 June short overall résumé of the papers
  presented special attention is given to the
  visits, namely to those that interested the
  engineers from out of Lisbon
• On the 9 June the newspaper informs its readers
  that the I National Engineering Meeting was being
  held in Lisbon and transcribes the article
  published on the O Século the day before
  concerning the opening of the Engineering
  Exhibition.
• The national profile of the meeting is
  emphasized both the engineers from the north
  and the south of Portugal toasted the success of
  the event

12
Seeing the work of Portuguese engineers the
meeting and the exhibition in the newspapers

• The Diário de Coimbra
• Although it was a regional newspaper (...) a
  defender of the interests of the people of the
  Beiras, the Diário de Coimbra pays special
  attention to the National Engineering Meeting.
  Everyday under the headline De Lisboa (From
  Lisbon), on page 4, the newspaper reports its
  readers on the meeting.
• News on the meeting are reported from the 8 to
  the 12 June the details of the meeting are not
  described, as the reporter prefers to stress the
  importance of the event and of the role played by
  engineers in enhancing the greatness of our
  Nation considering them as the main pillars of
  the nation and a professional class worthy of
  the widest prestige and reputation. On the 11
  and 12 June the newspaper focuses on the high
  scientific and technical level of the papers
  presented at the meeting.

13
To show, to be seen and to conquer the
popularization agenda of the Portuguese
engineering

• The I National Engineering Meeting has clearly a
  popularization agenda Portuguese engineers want
  to show their work to the general public.
• This popularization agenda is double folded
• on the one hand the exhibition displays a large
  number of engineering works and engineering
  instruments, dazzling the audience with the power
  of techniques
• on the other hand the papers and lectures
  presented at the conference, the visits to
  industrial facilities and public works and the
  official speeches, all of them extensively
  reported at both national and regional
  newspapers, asserted Portuguese engineers as key
  players in the progress and wealth of the
  country.
• Although the newspapers we examined differ in the
  way they portray the event, it would be quite
  difficult for any reader to ignore the
  engineering meeting and exhibition and to escape
  the vision of a mighty technological world. The
  Gee-whiz effect driven by the exhibition was
  enhanced both by the amount of technical details
  presented on the news (for instance the
  description of the contents of the papers and of
  the exhibitors) and by the way they were wrapped
  up in a hymn of praise to engineering.
• On the other hand the man in the street could
  also share a more humanised version of the
  engineering meeting the presence of elegant and
  cheerful ladies, a tea or a dive at the
  swimming-pool at Estoril, some beers and
  sandwiches at the Alfeite, the rhymes at the
  closing banquet by the Camões of Engineering,
  helped to establish a bond of sympathy between
  the general public and the engineers.
• Newspapers were crucial to the success of the
  popularization agenda of the I National
  Engineering Meeting. The coverage made by the
  media, both in terms of quantity and quality of
  the news was a decisive tool in the strategy of
  promoting and publicizing engineering and
  engineers. At the end of the meeting, Portuguese
  engineers had good reasons to be pleased they
  had successfully shown their work and their
  message of faith and belief in technology had
  been acknowledged by the public Portugal was now
  ready to praise a technical messiah.