Who's behind the news?
Who's behind the news?
The Arquivo Público do Estado do Espírito Santo (APEES) was founded on 18 July 1908 by Decree No. 135 of state president Jerônimo de Souza Monteiro, initially under the name Archivo Público Espírito-Santense. Its stated purpose was to centralise public books and documents that were dispersed across various institutions, conserving records of administrative practices and public history. It was originally attached to the state Public Library and from 1909 moved under the jurisdiction of the Interior and Justice Directorate.
The archive operated from the old building on Rua Pedro Palácios until 21 December 2011, when it relocated to its current premises at Rua Sete de Setembro, 414, in the historic centre of Vitória — a building with an unusual history as a former electric tram workshop of the Companhia Central de Força Elétrica (later Escelsa), deactivated in 1965 and subsequently converted for archival use.
The APEES holds eleven permanent-value documentary funds drawn primarily from the Espírito Santo state executive branch and institutions linked to it, including funds from the Agriculture, Education, Treasury, Governor's Office, Police, and the Regional Electoral Court. The archive also holds thirteen private documentary funds, including personal archives of an ex-governor, a politician, a historian, and a judge, as well as materials from institutions such as the Clube de Regatas Saldanha da Gama and TV Gazeta. Among the archive's most significant collections are 2.5 million documents relating to immigration to Espírito Santo — a resource of major genealogical and demographic significance. An online Project Imigrantes portal was launched in 2008 to facilitate access to immigration records.
The archive uses the AtoM (Access to Memory) platform for digital description and online access to its holdings, available at the APEES digital collection portal.
The APEES is open to the public with free access to the reading room. Research visits are conducted with the assistance of qualified staff familiar with the collections and finding aids. The archive is also recognised as a cultural diffusion pole, with a documented history of outreach activities including programmes for marginalised communities.