“MONSTROUS AND ILLEGAL PROCEEDINGS”: LAW ...

To tell this story – to fully map the borderlands – required a lengthy research trip.
Such trips demand money, but also faith in the traveler. The Brazilian Studies Association
provided funding for a summer of research in the archives in Porto Alegre. Research in
Argentina and Uruguay was made possible by a grant from the Fulbright Hays Doctoral
Research Program. This project would have been impossible without this assistance. I hope
the results provide some repayment.
My journey to South America brought both clarity and befuddlement. When I
became lost in the mazes of the archives, numerous friends, both old and new, appeared to
guide me. Regina Xavier threw open the doors at the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande
do Sul for me. Arthur Avila did the same on two occasions, as well as provided me with an
early outlet for my research in the university’s online journal. Mariana Thompson Flores,
Fabricio Prado, Luís Farinatti, Graciela Garcia and Marcia Volkmer all offered insights into
my initial findings when I desperately needed it and put up with my Spanish-tinged
Portuguese. Alex Borucki and Ana Frega proved invaluable and extremely patient guides to
the archives in Uruguay. In Buenos Aires, Jennifer Adair and Federico Sor helped me to
navigate the dangerous shoals of the national archives. Laura Morena offered assistance
with a number of logistical issues, finding me places to stay in Buenos Aires and again in
Corrientes. Sujay Rao proffered useful insights and sound advice in Corrientes, as well.
Throughout my journey, the staff and librarians of various archives imparted daily
assistance in completing my research. I am forever grateful for their professionalism as they
worked to recover documents that in many cases had fallen victim to destructive neglect. I
am particularly thankful to the archivists in Paraná, Entre Ríos, who opened the doors to the
archive to me when the A 1N 1 flu had officially closed all government buildings for a month.
This, and numerous other small acts, made this project possible.
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