Live archive. The memory of the De Viti de Marco-Starace women as a resource for the territory

The project Archivio vivo. La memoria delle donne De Viti de Marco-Starace come risorsa per il territorio focuses on the family archives of Carolina De Viti de Marco and Giulia Starace. It is a private archive, deposited in the Le Costantine Foundation (Casamassella, Lecce, Italy), the papers of which document the culture and the social, cultural and political commitment of five women belonging to a family from southern Italy in the early 1900s, of progressive ideas and liberal culture. The Sovrintendenza Archivistica della Puglia, officially recognizing the historical interest of the archive, points to it as "a source of primary importance for the history of female emancipation at the beginning of the 20th century and the economic and political history of Italy, functional for the studies of a territory of the South and its relations at a national and international level".

The project is divided into two lines: the study and critical edition of documents, and the promotion of the archive as a resource for the territory. The first line consists of a historical-political investigation that relates the history of the protagonists with some great movements of thought and activism of the early 20th century: emancipationism, feminist political philanthropy, the philosophy of Arts and Craft, the pedagogy of Montessori and Steiner. In the second line, the following are carried out: a) activities aimed at knowledge and promotion of archival and cultural heritage; b) dissemination actions at a local, national and international level aimed at a diversified public that includes researchers, students of different levels, and the general public; c) internationalization activities through participation in projects at European level.