“Diploma de Título de Injeniero Civil de Justicia Espada Acuña”.
Symbol: J.A.02.02.02.01.12 (JE_278)
Diploma in Civil Engineering from the University of Chile obtained by Justicia Espada Acuña (1893-1980), the first Chilean woman to obtain her degree in Santiago in 1919. It belongs to a documentary collection donated by the son of the professional, Millapol Gajardo, as part of the opening of the Public Women Exhibition in the Sala Museo Gabriela Mistral, in May 2019. This collection, currently conserved in the Andrés Bello Central Archive Repository, is a collection where we can analyse the different aspects of Justicia Espada’s private and professional life.
This solemn document was issued by our university at a time when women were just being incorporated into higher education both in Chile and in the entire continent. Justicia Espada is one of the first civil engineering degrees in Latin America. It is, therefore, a representative piece of the effort that Justicia Espada had to make in order to join a faculty that had neither the custom nor the space to integrate women into university education.
Indeed, she recalled that there were no toilets for women in the faculty. This significant fact of everyday life did not in any way demoralise the young university student. On the contrary, in her interviews she always emphasised the support and the warm words of solidarity that her male colleagues gave her in welcoming her. In its magazine Enerjía, the school’s student centre referred to her as “a woman who, disregarding prejudice and ageism and carrying no other weapons than her brain and her indomitable character, decided to study engineering”, an event they considered to be of great social significance.
The engineer was noted for her work in public institutions in tasks central to modern life. Note in particular her work as a civil servant in the Department of Roads and Works of the General Directorate of Railways of the State of Chile, a company created in 1884.
We consider this document to be a treasure trove as it represents a significant milestone in the history of the incorporation of women into higher education, a subject that currently requires in-depth thought and research.
AUTHOR OF THE TEXT
Ariadna Biotti. Editing: Gabriel González. Proofreading: Alejandra Araya.
NAME OF IBERARCHIVOS PROJECT:
“Application of archival treatment, conservation, digitisation and dissemination of the donation of the personal and family archives of Justicia Espada Acuña (1893-1980). First woman engineer in Chile and South America”.
Bibliography:
University of Chile (1919). Diploma de título de Injeniero civil, Justicia Espada Acuña Mena. Justicia Acuña Collection of the Andrés Bello Central Archive of the University of Chile.
Link for online consultation:
http://archivobello.uchile.cl/piezas/JE_278