“Showing the vitality and the work of Portuguese engineers”
The 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@netcabo.pt
Ana Cardoso de Matos
Centro Interdisciplinar de História, Culturas e Sociedades (CIDEHUS)
Departamento de História, Universidade de Évora
anacmatos@mail.telepac.pt
Showing the work of Portuguese engineers:
the meeting and the exhibition
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the engineer as an icon of the modern world, “the avant-garde and the guardian of progress
and civilization”
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a strategy to gain public recognition: a very visible event with good media coverage
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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
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the I National Engineering Meeting: 7 to the 12 June 1931
Showing the work of Portuguese engineers: the meeting
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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)
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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.
Showing the work of Portuguese engineers: the exhibition
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the exhibition: the true public event of the meeting
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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.
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the exhibition was opened to the general public at the Palace of Fine Arts, between 2
p.m. and 7:30 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“
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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
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the stands: it is quite clear that the lion’s 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
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
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)
Seeing the work of Portuguese engineers:
the meeting and the exhibition in the newspapers
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Newspapers as a tool for publicizing the National Engineering Meeting and the Engineering
Exhibition
The newspapers:O Século, Diário de Notícias, Diário da Manhã, O Comércio do Porto and Diário
de Coimbra
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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.
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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
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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”
Seeing the work of Portuguese engineers: the meeting and the exhibition in the newspapers
The Diário de Notícias
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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.
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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”.
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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
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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.
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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”..
Seeing the work of Portuguese engineers: the meeting and the exhibition in the newspapers
The O Século
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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”
Seeing the work of Portuguese engineers: the meeting and the exhibition in the newspapers
The Diário da Manhã
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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 regime’s propaganda, namely the idea of the national rebirth and national
pride. They usually include one or two photographs.
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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 nonspecialist”.
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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.
Seeing the work of Portuguese engineers: the meeting and the exhibition in the newspapers
The Comércio do Porto
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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”.
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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”;
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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.
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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”
Seeing the work of Portuguese engineers: the meeting and the exhibition in the newspapers
The Diário de Coimbra
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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.
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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”.
To show, to be seen and to conquer:
the popularization agenda of the Portuguese engineering
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The I National Engineering Meeting has clearly a popularization agenda: Portuguese engineers
want to “show their work to the general public”.
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This popularization agenda is double folded:
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on the one hand the exhibition displays a large number of engineering works and
engineering instruments, dazzling the audience with the power of techniques;
–
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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.
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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.
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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.