Charitable acts and aid to the poor have a long tradition in Puebla. At the present time there are some advances on the history of the institutions and the different sectors of the population assisted by public charity or the welfare services of the State but, still, there are no specific references on the benefactors who helped with money, work or in kind, the poor who were concentrated in the city of Puebla, coming from different parts of the state and neighboring states. The main objective of this project is to identify the wealthy benefactors, as well as their motivations to finance charitable works during the Porfiriato, under the consideration that charity and philanthropy became a trait of distinction and social prestige.
The research will be based on the documentary collections of the Public Charity of the State of Puebla, the Official Newspaper and the Notary Archives of the State of Puebla.
