João de Deus was born in 1830 and died in 1896. He was a tireless poet and a successful pedagogue. He is buried in the national pantheon, among the most relevant Portuguese citizens. During his life he was concerned about the lack of literacy in Portugal. For that reason he created a method to teach people how to read, write and count. To fulfil his aim he founded an association of mobile schools. That means he used to train people at his home to become his method’s teachers. Then they were sent to small villages all over the country teaching everybody who wanted to be literate, entirely free of charge. Being such an easy and innovative method it became widely popular and was adopted in state schools. In the beginning of the XXth century it became the national method till the dictatorial regime abolished it. Nevertheless his method was never restrained from being used in the kindergartens established by his son João de Deus Ramos and it is still used nowadays in those preschools. In 1917 the Museum João de Deus was inaugurated as a place where people could remember his character and his legacy. Being a bibliographic museum it is here where his manuscripts, his correspondence and his poetical and pedagogical works are preserved and it is also where researchers can consult not only his works but also his Portuguese contemporaries. Taking into consideration some documents, school manuals, photographs and piece of news about João de Deus from the Museum João de Deus documental resource I will demonstrate his methodology and his importance for the history of education in Portugal.