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The Center for American History contains both printed and archival materials relating to the Mexican American experience in the Southwest from the 16th century to the present. Below are listed some of the Center's more extensive collections.
Typescripts and photostatic copies of original records, dated 1511-1850, from archives in Mexico and Spain documenting the Spanish empire in the Americas from Florida to California, including exploration, the establishment of missions, and Indian affairs.
Bexar Archives
Approximately 250,000 manuscript pages of the records generated from 1717 to 1836 by the governments of Spain and Mexico in San Antonio de Béxar, the administrative center of Texas under Spanish and Mexican rule. Copybooks, royal orders, reports, petitions, decrees, itineraries, legal proceedings, wills, proclamations, brand licenses, rosters, and other materials document the military, civilian, social, and political life of the Spanish province of Texas and the Mexican State of Coahuila y Texas.
Lorenzo de Zavala Papers
Correspondence, financial records, and legal documents relating to the life and political career of statesman, soldier, Texas land empresario, writer, and physician Lorenzo de Zavala (1788-1836).
Field Foundation Archives
Approximately 400 linear feet of archival records documenting the work of the Foundation in support of organizations, such as the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, promoting civil rights, civil liberties, child welfare, and social justice from 1940 to 1988.
Nacogdoches Archives
Transcriptions of the official records created and accumulated at Nacogdoches, Texas, during the Spanish and Mexican periods (1731-1836).
Robert Runyon Photograph Collection
Approximately 14,000 images by Brownsville, Texas, photographer Robert Runyon depicting revolutionary activities in northern Mexico, the development of the Rio Grande Valley, and the U.S. military presence in South Texas in the early 20th century.
Francis William Seabury Papers
Letters, genealogies, abstracts of title, and other legal documents relating to genealogy in South Texas and the Rio Grande Valley.
Spanish-Language Newspapers
A collection of 44 Spanish-language newspapers that includes a microfilm copy of the first issue of the first Texas newspaper, Gaceta de Texas, for May 25, 1813; issues of ante-bellum Spanish-language newspapers from Brownsville and San Antonio; and a run of San Antonio's La Prensa from 1913 to 1959.
Texas Music Collection
More than 7,500 phonodiscs and cassettes of taped commercial recordings from 1922 to the present representing productions associated with Texas and Texans. Includes Mexican American musicians such as Lydia Mendoza and Santiago Jiménez.