Pedro Calmon dedicated himself to historical research and was a member of several prestigious institutions, including the Instituto Histórico e Geográfico Brasileiro [Brazilian Historic and Geographic Institute], of which he was president from 1968 to 1985; the Instituto Geográfico e Histórico da Bahia [Geographical and Historical Institute of Bahia]; and the Academia Brasileira de Letras [Brazilian Academy of Letters]. He was also involved with scientific organisations in Latin America and Europe, such as the Sociedade de Geografia de Lisboa [Lisbon Geographical Society] and the Academias das Ciências e da História de Lisboa [Lisbon Academies of Science and History]. In this regard, he played a pivotal role in strengthening Luso-Brazilian cultural ties. He made several study trips to Portugal, participated in congresses, and represented the University of Brazil at the celebrations marking the Fourth Centenary of the University of Coimbra (1937). He also contributed to collections published by Portuguese authors and co-authored the volume Brasil [Brazil] with Jaime Cortesão for the Historia de América y de los pueblos americanos [History of the Americas and its Peoples] collection, directed by Antonio Ballesteros y Beretta (1956). Calmon served as the Brazilian government's delegate at the inter-academic conference for the Orthographic Agreement (1945) and directed the Instituto de Estudos Portugueses Afrânio Peixoto [Afrânio Peixoto Institute of Portuguese Studies] at the Liceu Literário Português [Portuguese Literary High School] (1947). He often said, "Lisbon inside and out was Bahia (...) I had come to love Portugal, not for what it had to offer, but for what it had to offer Brazil” ( Memórias , 1995, pp. 126-127). In 1987, two years after his death, Lisbon's Comissão Municipal de Toponimia [Municipal Toponymy Commission], at the suggestion of the Academia das Ciências [Academy of Sciences], renamed the old Rua Avelar Brotero in Alcântara after Pedro Calmon, in recognition of his contributions to Portuguese-Brazilian cultural relations.

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