LA IMPLEMENTACIÓN DEL REGISTRO CIVIL EN CURICÓ

During Domingo Santa María’s administration, the legislation establishing the Civil Registry of Chile was enacted, marking the initial strides toward implementing this novel state service. Despite its 140-year existence, unlike other nations, this institution remains largely unexplored in national historiography, with its origins often narrowly associated with religious matters. This article’s main goal is to scrutinize the documentation from the inception of a specific office, namely the one situated in Curicó, shedding light on the circumstances surrounding its establishment and the challenges it confronted. We employ a methodology inherent to microhistory and a localized perspective, which allowed us to pinpoint elements within this city directly linked to the expansion of public administration and the State authorities’ vision of their mission at the close of the 19th century, transcending doctrinal triggers. Our main result is to show that broadening the conceptual framework guiding the study of the Civil Registry is imperative to gain a comprehensive understanding of the underlying motivations for its establishment.