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Women’s Prisons of Barcelona

Second Seminar on Public History of Female Prisons during Francoism

Introduction to Research with Written and Oral Sources and Training in Public History

Building on the success of the edition dedicated to the prison of Las Ventas in Madrid, the Second Public History Seminar on Women’s Prisons during Francoism will delve into the research and public understanding of Barcelona’s women’s prisons from 1936 to 1975. This hybrid training program seamlessly blends theory and practice through a series of lectures and workshops, emphasizing knowledge-sharing and the development of research skills. Participants will explore four significant historical sites: the Old Prison (Reina Amàlia Prison), Les Corts Provincial Prison (1936-1955), La Model (1955-1963), and the Trinitat Provincial Prison (1963-1983).
The seminar will examine the Franco regime’s mechanisms for female correction and moralization, including the Patronato de Protección de la Mujer (Women’s Protection Board) and the Obra de Redención de Mujeres Caídas (Work of Redemption for Fallen Women), institutions that enforced social control through a network of “special prisons” for women labeled as “fallen.”

Content and Methodology

This program is open to anyone interested in initiating research in this area, providing tools for working with both written sources (judicial records, prison documentation, underground publications, letters) and oral history sources (interviews with former prisoners). The practical sessions will focus on equipping participants to share historical findings through digital platforms, including web portals and Wikipedia, within the framework of Public History.

This initiative not only sheds light on the histories of these prison spaces but also empowers participants to engage in broader knowledge dissemination, helping to preserve and share this vital chapter of women’s history in Spain.

The seminar will be recorded for online broadcasting, subject to the prior authorization of their participants.

Side Exhibitions

The seminar features two traveling exhibitions. The first, The Invisible Prison, presented by the Association for Culture and Memory of Catalonia (ACMe), will be on display in the lobby of the 2nd floor of the Faculty of Geography and History from November 18 to 22. Additionally, the seminar will inaugurate The Testimony of the TOP Generation exhibition in the fourth gallery of the former La Model Prison, which will be open from November 20 to December 21, 2024.

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PROGRAM

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 20

La Model Prison
Carrer d’Entença, 155, L’Eixample, 08029 Barcelona

Opening of the Exhibition The Testimony of the TOP Generation
Organized by the Catalan Association of Former Prisoners of Francoism, this exhibition commemorates the 60th anniversary of the Public Order Tribunal (TOP) and shares the stories of countless men and women from the 1960s and 70s who fought for democratic freedoms, risking their own liberty in the clandestine struggle against the dictatorship.

Afternoon (4:30 pm – 8:30 pm)

  • 4:30 pm – 4:45 pm
    Opening and presentation of the conference
  • 4:45 pm – 6:15 pm
    Session I: From the Old Prison to Les Corts Prison, passing through the General Correctional Center for Women
    Panel discussion with Elsa Plaza, Ricard Vinyes, and Pilar Molina. Presented by Fernando Hernández.
  • 6:15 om – 6:40 pm
    Presentation and screening of the new website www.presodelescorts.org (ACMe) and documentary Memory of the Women’s Prison, by Marc Almodóvar and Ramón Bochaca.

Coffee Break: 6:40 pm – 7:00 pm

  • 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
    Session II: Panel discussion with relatives of Les Corts inmates: Silvia Munt and Eva Fortes, Carles Vicente and Anna Maria Batalla. Presented by Andreu Mayayo.

 

 

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 21

Morning: 12:30 pm – 2:00 pm
Faculty of Geography and History, University of Barcelona (UB)
Jane Addams Room (4th Floor)
Carrer de Montalegre, 6, Ciutat Vella, 08001 Barcelona

  • Presentation of ongoing research by young researchers (I):
    Carlota Vidal (UB): The Women of La Model Prison.

Afternoon: 5:00 pm – 8:30 pm
La Model Memory Site
Carrer d’Entença, 155, L’Eixample, 08029 Barcelona

  • 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm
    Session I: The “Feminine Correction-Moralization.”
    The Patronato de Protección de la Mujer (Women’s Protection Board) and the Special Prisons for Fallen Women

    • 5:00 pm – 5:25 pm
      Screening of the short film Els Buits (Isa Luengo, Sofia Esteve, and Marina Freixa, 20′), presented by the filmmakers.
    • 5:25 pm – 7:00 pm
      Panel with Mariona Roca and Maria Forns (witnesses), Elisabet Velo Fabregat (UAB), and Laura Bolaños Giner (UCM). Presented by Mercè Garcés (Ateneu Memòria Popular).

Networking coffee (7:00 pm – 7:20 pm)

ELS BUITS_Imagen fija01_PRINCIPAL

 

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 22

Morning 12:30 pm – 2:00 pm
Faculty of Geography and History, University of Barcelona (UB)
Jane Addams Room (4th Floor)
Carrer de Montalegre, 6, Ciutat Vella, 08001 Barcelona

  • Presentation of works in progress by young researchers (II):
    Maria Mayayo (UB): The Prisoner of La Trinitat

Afternoon 5:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Assembly Room, Comissions Obreres
Via Laietana, 16, Ciutat Vella, 08003 Barcelona

5:00 pm – 6:30 pm
Session I: La Trinitat: Penultimate Stage

  • Panel with Elisabet Almeda Samaranch (UB), Maria Mayayo Vallverdú (UB), and César Lorenzo Rubio (Group of Studies on the History of Pressure and Punitive Institutions, GEHPIP). Presented by: Marc Andreu (Fundació Cipriano García)

6:30 pm – 6:50 pm
Video screening of interviews with former prisoners of the Trinitat, conducted by Carlota Falgueras, César Lorenzo, and Sergi Salamé.

Coffee break (6:50 pm – 7:10 pm)

7:10 pm – 8:30 pm
Session II: The Trinitat. The Ignored Prison

  • Presentation of the book Trinitat: The Ignored Women’s Prison(1963-1983) by Carlota Falgueras and César Lorenzo.
  • Panel with former prisoners of the Trinitat. Presented by: Carlota Falgueras.

 

 

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 23

11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Carrer Joan Güell with Europa

  • HISTORICAL ROUTE: “Memory of the Women’s Prison.” Visit to the Les Corts Prison monument and tour of the recently signposted perimeter. Led by Núria Ricart (University of Barcelona) and Platform Les Corts Prison Monument.
  • The route will end with the dramatized intervention A Trenc d’Alba, by Donar Veu a la Memòria.

 

 

Organization: EUROM – Fundació Solidaritat UB; Rosa Luxemburg Foundation (FRL); Center d’Estudis Històrics Internacionals (CEHI) of the UB; Department of Democratic Memory of Barcelona City Council.

Collaborations: Fundació Cipriano García de CC.OO.; Catalan Association of Former Political Prisoners of Francoism; Ateneu Popular Memory; Association for Culture and Memory of Catalonia (ACMe); Spanish Association of Public History (AHP); Dones de Dones de Les Corts Monument Platform; Democratic Memorial of the Generalitat of Catalonia – La Carbonera Bookstore.

Organizing Committee: Laura Bolaños – Ricard Conesa – Carlota Falgueras – Jordi Guixé – Fernando Hernández – César Lorenzo – Amelia Martínez-Lobo – Maria Mayayo – Angelina Puig – Núria Ricart – Javier Tébar – Carlota Vidal

With the support of the Barcelona City Council and the program CERV of the European Commission.

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  • Reference of the Project: 101140481
  • Kind of activity: Awareness Raising
  • Title: Participation in Other Networks
  • Date of the activity: November 20, 2024
  • Duration of the event in days: 30
  • In Person
  • La Model Former Prison

When

November 20-23, 2024

Where

Check the programme for more details

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