The history of welfare dairy nannies in narratives, bridges between memories and generative reflection

Abstract

The project aims to recover and enhance the memory of the history of wetnursing, which was widespread in the Capitanata area in the past. It takes its cue from research conducted on the subject in the Garfagnana area and from sources preserved in the Provincial Archives in Foggia. The welfare wet-nurse was the person who fed orphans and abandoned children, but she was poorly paid and suffered various hardships. Nannies were women in destitute conditions who performed this role with great physical and moral sacrifice. The project includes the organization of a permanent museum with archival artifacts and photographs and seminars to disseminate the results of research set up in the same premises that once housed the children, in order to hand down the memory of this profession of nurturing and caring for the women who cared for them and reflect on the path of women’s emancipation.