In the late 19th century, the states of Piauí and Maranhão in Brazil were home to a total of eleven cotton spinning and weaving factories, characterizing a textile industrial center with strong connections. In Maranhão, five of these factories were installed in the capital São Luís, another four in Caxias city and one in Codó city. In Piauí, there was only one factory in the capital Teresina. Women were numerically expressive and played a prominent role in the textile industry of both states, being later identified by the offensive nickname of pipira. The reference was a homonymous bird, quite common in the Amazon and in the Meio Norte region of the country, but which soon developed into other meanings, quite offensive to the worker women. Thus, this article analyzes how this nickname emerged and consolidated as a social representation of these working women, also reflecting on the possibilities of pedagogical intervention in history teaching based on this study, with a focus on Basic Education.
