Mexico Archives and Libraries
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- Archives collect and preserve original documents of organizations such as churches or governments. Libraries generally collect published sources such as books, maps, and microfilm.
- If you plan to visit a repository, contact them and ask for information about their collection, hours, services, and fees. Ask if they require you to have a reader’s ticket (a paper indicating you are a responsible researcher) to view the records, and ask how to obtain one.
- Although the records you need may be in an archive or library, the FamilySearch Library may have microfilmed and digitized copies of them.
Archives
National Government Archives
Archivo General de la Nación
Eduardo Molina y Albañiles
Col. Penitenciaría Ampliación
Deleg. Venustiano Carranza
C.P. 15350 México, D.F.
Telephone: 5133 9900:Citizen Attention: Ext. 19326
Website
Records of genealogical value at the National Archives include:
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Some helpful guides to Archivo General de la Nación collection include:
Argena II: Documentos Coloniales (Argena II, Colonial Documents). Colima, México: Cenedic, 1995. (FS Library compact disc no. 420.) Describes 322 documental record groups in the National Archives. The records in the New Spain section of the archives consist of 115 record groups containing more than 41,000 volumes.
Archivo General de la Nación Guía General (General Guide to the National Archives). México, D.F.: Difusión y Publicaciones del Archivio General de la Nación, 1981. (FS Library book 972 A3gg).
State Archives
Branches of the Archivo General de la Nación collect records dealing with specialized subject matter such as military records, industry, trade, commerce, and so on. The states in Mexico have archives that serve as repositories for their own records. Each state has jurisdiction over its own archives, which are separate from the national archives, and its own criteria for retaining, archiving, and housing records.
Wiki Articles For State Archives and Libraries
Other Archives
Helpful genealogical resources that cover Latin American History are also available at institutions in the United States and Spain.
United States
The library of the University of Texas at Austin has over 600000 volumes in their Latin American history collection. In addition to the book collection they have many microfilmed records from southern Texas and Northern Mexico
University of Texas at Austin
Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection
Sid Richardson Hall 1-109
Austin, TX 78713-7330
Telephone: (512) 495-4520
Fax: (512) 495-4520
The Bancroft Library has a large collection of Latin American records. The library’s address is:
University of California
Bancroft Library
Berkeley, CA 94720
Telephone: (510) 642-3781
Website
The University of Arizona in Tucson has some of the parish records of the state of Sonora. It also has a large collection of Latin American records. The university’s address is:
University of Arizona in Tucson
Tucson, AZ 85721
Telephone: (520) 621-2211
Search Engine
Spain
Records about the European discovery, exploration, and colonization of Mexico are found in the following archives:
Archivo General de Indias
Edificio de la Lonja
Av. de la Constitución, 3
Edificio de La Cilla
C/ Santo Tomás, 5
41071 Sevilla
Spain
Telephone: (34) 95 450 05 28
Fax: (34) 95 421 94 85
- A summary of the records preserved at the Archivo General de Indias is found in:
- Peña y Cámara, José María de la. Archivo General de Indias de Sevilla: Guía de Visitante (General Archive of the Indies of Seville: Visitor’s Guide). Madrid: Dirección General de Archivos y Bibliotecas, 1958. (FS Library book 946 A2s; film 0896895.)
- An additional description of the records at the Archivo General de Indias, and other Spanish and Latin American archives that house documents of the Spanish American colonial period is found in:
- Documentación y Archivos de la Colonización Española (Documentation and Archives of the Spanish Colonization). Madrid: Ministerio de Cultura, 1980. (FS Library book 946 A3d.)
Archivo General Militar de Segovia
Alcázar 40071 Segovia, Spain
Telephone: 43-65-11
Fax: 44-31-49
Website
Archivo Central Militar del Servicio Histórico Militar
C/Mártires de Alcalá 9
28015 Madrid, Spain
Telephone: 247-0300
Fax: 559-4371
Website
Archivo Histórico Nacional
C/Serrano 115
28006 Madrid, Spain
Telephone: 563-5923, 261-8003-5
Fax: 563-1199
Website
Libraries
There are two types of libraries in Mexico, those sustained by government funds, and those owned by private institutions or individuals.
The Asociación Mexicana de Archivos y Bibliotecas Privadas, A.C. (Mexican Association of Private Archives and Libraries, A.C.) has a publication called "Guía de Archivos y Bibliotecas Privados" that lists some of their libraries. The association’s address is:
Calle Guadalajara #104
Colonia Condesa CP 06140
México DF México
Telephone 286-8339
Fax 286-8558
National Library of Mexico (Biblioteca Nacional de México)
Centro Cultural Universitario
C.U. Coyoacán
04510 Ciudad de México, CDMX, Mexico
Phone: +52 55 5622 6818
Website
National Digital Library of Mexico
The following archive has an extensive collection of records on the southern Mexican states
Archivo General de Centro América
4a Ave 7-41 zona 1
Ciudad de Guatemala
Guatemala Mexico
Telephone 2-30-37 51-66-95
The following library has an extensive collection of manuscripts and published sources
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
Biblioteca Central
Ciudad Universitaria
04510 Villa Obregón México
The Instituto Tecnológico has microfilmed a considerable number of records on northeastern Mexico The institute’s address is
Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey Biblioteca
Carretera Nacional km 982
Sucursal de Correos J
Monterrey Nuevo León México
Museums
Records Offices
Many records in Mexico are created by the local government. Civil registration, including birth, marriage, and death records, started in 1859.
- Every municipio in Mexico has jurisdiction over its own archives, which are separate from the state archives.
- Some Municipios had sub-offices (oficialia) in other towns within its borders. These sub-offices kept their own records. The sub-office records are listed in the FamilySearch Catalog under the name of the municipio civil registration office.
- Copies of the civil registration in the Archivo Municipal were sent to the state archives.
- You can get information and copies of the civil records by writing to the municipio. See the Spanish Letter Writing Guide. If the local registration office does not have the early records, you may want to write to the state civil registration office.
- Each municipio has two kinds of archives:
- El Archivo del Municipio, which keeps important genealogical record that includes wills and probate inventories, and lransfers and deeds.
- El Archivo del Registro Civil, which records vital records (births, marriages, and deaths).
A list of all the municipal archives in Mexico can be found in:
- Guía General de los Archivos Estatales y Municipales de México (General Guide to the Archives of the States and Municipalities of Mexico). México, D.F.: Achivo General de la Nación, ca. 1988. (FS Library book 972 A3a). Contains the addresses of the archives as well as the kind of records they have and the dates the records cover.
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