A tour in the “Museu da Rampa”

 

A couple of weeks ago, I made a tour at the “Museu da Rampa” (Ramp Museum, in free translation from Portuguese), located in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. This museum tells stories about the coming of US Army to Natal during Second World War, as well as the visit of then US president Winston Churchill to Natal and his meeting with then Brazilian president Getúlio Vargas.

For those who do not know, Natal was a strategic spot for Americans during the 2nd World War, because it was faster for the military planes to get to Europe departing from the city. Because of that, Natal received the slang of O trampolim da vitória (The trampoline of the victory, in free translation). Vargas and Churchill made, then, an agreement to use Natal as a spot for US army. Such agreement marked the coming of US soliders to Natal and its neighbor city, Parnamirim, where military bases were located. The presence of US military in Natal and Parnamirim deeply marked Natal’s and Parnamirim’s history and culture. Some images of Museu da Rampa can be found here (post in Portuguese).

Because 2023 marks the 80th anniversary of the meeting between Vargas and Churchill, the museum was displaying an special exposition about this event, with lots of infographics about the event, sketches of US planes that were in Natal before going to Europe, as well as pictures of the meeting between Vargas and Churchill, as well as expositions of clothes and weapons used by brazilian soliders during 2nd World War.

For those who don`t know (once again), Brazilian army also fought the war, more specifically in Italy. The so called “pracinhas” fought battles in Italy, and some photographies and stories about this are also found in the museum. Swedish Power Metal band Sabaton has a song about them.

The museum has about 7 different spaces devoted to all of above stories and others. It is also located in front of the port where the ships from Vargas and Churchill anchored and were hosted to the meeting.

The presence of US Army in Natal is one of the most important stories of the city, so if you are planning to visit Natal (and their beaches), I strongy recommend you to visit Museu da Rampa. As a bonus, also visit Barreira do Inferno (Hell’s barrier in free translation) and also the Centro Cultural Trampolim da Vitória in Parnamirim, to know better about this and other stories.