In 1917, with the support of Archbishop Dom Duarte Leopoldo, Mathilde de Macedo Soares founded the Associação Protectora dos Morpheticos, which acquired the land of Santo Angelo, and made plans for a leprosarium. All was handed over to Santa Casa de Misericórdia. Construction on Santo Ângelo colony began in 1919 and finally finished in 1928. It was inaugurated on 3 May 1928 and received its first patients from Hospital do Guapira on 2 August 1928, under the administration of Santa Casa de Misericórdia. In 1933, it was annexed to the Leprosy Inspectorate (Inspectoria da Lepra).
(Araujo, H C S. ‘A lepra e as organizações anti-leprosas do Brasil em 1936’. Mem. Inst. Osw Cruz, 1937:32, 141, 145)