Abstract

The existence of an organisation is never guaranteed, and it often needs to be fostered, especially by its leadership. The purpose of this article is to analyse the importance of memory, in its various dimensions, in promoting the longevity of an educational organisation, focusing on a special moment of celebration and self-celebration of an organisation that shelters and educates children and young women—the celebrations of the centenary of Asilo de Infância Desvalida da Horta. An organisational case study was carried out to accomplish this. This study was conducted, with a strong inductive component, through the collection of documents belonging to this organisation, as well as news related to this celebration published in a local newspaper. The mobilisation of memory by several actors emerged from the analysis of this documentation: in the transmission of a positive external image of the organisation, in the promotion of a good relationship with the surrounding environment, in the fostering of internal cohesion and, finally, in the published image. It may be concluded that this celebration functioned as a celebration of the success of this organisation, materialised in its institutional identity, making memory a fundamental resource in this process. These results led to the recognition of the importance of the mobilisation of memory in the process of legitimising an organisation.