adalzira bittencourt's visit to the us during 1939 resulted in a travel narrative that recounts the details of her visits to numerous schools, hospitals and orphanages in the city of new york and to the 1939 world's fair held in the same city. her general impressions of the eugenic reforms underway in the us during this time period reveal her support for the project of cultural renewal sponsored by the vargas regime that targeted the disadvantaged in brazilian society. in addition, bittencourt's commentary exposes the racial prejudice prevalent in american society at the time and outlines the hues and tones of her own brand of racism vis a vis the very sector of the brazilian population she advocated for throughout her career as a lawyer, educator, social activist and writer.
