In this article, speeches by engineers and graduates, delivered in formal ceremonies at the Polytechnic School of São Paulo between 1899 and 1910, are interpreted. The sources are analyzed in light of the historical development of the institution, the organizational and symbolic references that arise from similar European references, and the relations of engineers to society. The analysis of the social imaginary of this group shows that higher education institutions are places for training and sociability which establish memories, identities and social representations that, when internally fostered and later repeated at their graduation ceremonies, enlighten the objective social condition and the political aspirations of the profession that they intend to form.
Polytechnic School of São Paulo; memory; history of higher education