Program History

Professor James N. Green’s research for his book We Cannot Remain Silent: Opposition to the Brazilian Military Dictatorship in the United States (Companhia das Letras, 2009; Duke University Press, 2010) led him to the National Archive in College Park, Maryland, where he reviewed thousands of documents on U.S.-Brazilian relations that were not directly related to his research focus. Green recognized their immense value of U.S. government documents for scholars studying the dictatorship. Green  envisioned a project that would grant access to documents online for researchers from the United States, Brazil and other parts of the world. To kickstart this endeavor, he applied for a small research grant.

After successfully securing this grant, Professor Green set his sights on expanding the project. He saw an opportunity to work with Sidnei Munhoz at the State University of Maringá. Given Munhoz’s ongoing efforts to acquire microfilms of U.S. State Department documents and make them available on his university’s website, Opening the Archives was the perfect project with which to collaborate. Munhoz raised additional resources from his university. With this crucial support, alongside a Brown Research Seed Grant and funds from the Office of International Affairs and the Dean of the College, Green was able to scale up the project to include ten Brown students and two Brazilian students working during the summer of 2013.

With a letter of recommendation from the Brazilian National Archive, Professor Green and his team reached out to the U.S. National Archive and Record Administration (NARA) for support and collaboration on the project. NARA recognized the importance of the endeavor and agreed to provide their assistance. Archivist David Langbart took particular interest in the mission, remarking that “nobody had ever come in and done a project in such a comprehensive manner.” The team’s goal for the summer was to scan and index as many documents as possible, with the intention of raising additional funds for the second phase of the project in the summer of 2014. The second phase would be crucial for their research collaboration with the Brazilian National Truth Commission, as they were preparing to write their final report by December of that year. The success of this project would be a significant step towards making these historical documents available to researchers and the public worldwide. 

Over the last decade, the project has grown to include ongoing teams of Brown undergraduate students, and has served as a valuable asset to scholars worldwide. With the goal of making these historical documents available to the public, the project continues to shine a light on one of the darkest chapters in Brazilian history and represents an international initiative for those seeking to understand the complexities of U.S.-Brazilian relations during the decades surrounding the Brazilian military dictatorship.