Laudelina de Campos Mello
The exhibition explores the life, ideas, and activism of Laudelina de Campos Mello (Poços de Caldas/MG, 1904 – Campinas/SP, 1991), a trade unionist and a pivotal figure in the fight to recognize domestic work and secure rights for the profession. Founder of Brazil’s first domestic workers’ union, she dedicated herself to fighting exploitation and ensuring not only labor rights but also dignity for these professionals. Through photographs, documents, and historical objects, alongside works by artists such as Rosana Paulino, Dayane Tropicaos, and Kika Carvalho, the exhibition intertwines Laudelina’s legacy with broader themes of domestic labor—an enduring vestige of slavery—unionism, Black associations, politics, culture, and the fundamental right to rest.
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Dignity and struggle: Laudelina de Campos Mello
May 16 - October 18, 2026
IMS Paulista
Avenida Paulista, 2424, São Paulo/SP - Brasil
Free admission. Tuesdays to Sundays and holidays 10am–8pm. Always closed on Mondays.
Dignity and struggle: Laudelina de Campos Mello
March 22 - September 14, 2025
IMS Poços
Rua Teresópolis, 90, Poços de Caldas/MG - Brasil
Free admission. Tuesdays to Fridays, 1pm-7pm. On Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, 9am-7pm.
Laudelina de Campos Mello (Poços de Caldas, 1904 – Campinas, 1991) was a trade unionist, Black activist and pioneer in the struggle for domestic workers' rights in Brazil. The daughter of formerly enslaved parents, she began working at age 7 and left school to care for her siblings. By 16, she already presided over Clube 13 de Maio, a political and cultural association for the Black community in Poços de Caldas, Minas Gerais. In 1936, she joined the Brazilian Communist Party and founded the country's first Domestic Workers' Association, shut down by the authoritarian Estado Novo regime and reactivated in 1946. A member of the Brazilian Black Front, the largest Black organization in 20th-century Brazil, she also served in the Women's War Auxiliary Organization from 1942 to 1945, supporting Brazilian troops in World War II. In 1961, she established the Professional Beneficent Association of Domestic Workers in Campinas, formalized as a union in 1988, and her lifelong activism was instrumental in securing formal labor rights and social security for the profession. She was posthumously awarded the rank of Knight of the Order of Labor Merit in 2005, and in 2023 her name was inscribed in the Book of Heroes and Heroines of the Fatherland.
This playlist features songs recorded by women who, at different points in their lives, worked as domestic workers. The selection offers a musical journey through a range of styles, from traditional samba to funk carioca, with a special highlight on Dona Clementina de Jesus.