Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Santa Fe

United States New Mexico  Archives and Libraries  Archdiocese of Santa Fe

{| cellspacing="3" cellpadding="5" width="108%" style="border-bottom: rgb(147,139,119) 1px solid; border-left: rgb(147,139,119) 1px solid; background: rgb(245,241,240) 0% 50%; border-top: rgb(147,139,119) 1px solid; border-right: rgb(147,139,119) 1px solid; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-size: auto auto" class="FCK__ShowTableBorders"



Contact Information
E-mail: Contact Us

Address:


 * 223 Cathedral Place
 * Santa Fe, NM 87505

Telephone: 505.983.3811 Fax:  505.992.0341

Archives hours: By appointment.

Map, directions, and public transportation


 * Map: Google map: Museum and ARCHIVES of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe.


 * Directions:
 * From Southwest of Santa Fe on I-25 (Canam Hwy): Merge onto I-25 N/US-85 North toward Santa Fe. Take the US-84 N/US-285 N/St Francis Dr exit, EXIT 282B-A, toward Santa Fe-Plaza, 0.3 mi. Merge onto S Saint Francis Dr/US-84 N/US-285 N via the ramp on the left toward Santa Fe Plaza/LOS ALAMOS/Taos, 3.4 mi. Turn right onto Cerrillos Rd/NM-14. Continue to follow NM-14, 0.9 mi. NM-14 becomes Galisteo St, 0.08 mi. Turn right onto W Alameda St, 0.3 mi. Turn left onto Cathedral Pl, 0.09 mi. The Museum and ARCHIVES of the Archdiocese at 223 CATHEDRAL PL is on the right.
 * from North of Santa Fe on US-84 S/US-285 (Taos Hwy): Turn onto US-84 S/US-285 (Taos Hwy) South toward Santa Fe. Take the exit on the left toward Downtown Plaza, 0.3 mi. Stay straight to go onto N Guadalupe St, 0.8 mi. Turn left onto W San Francisco St, 0.4 mi. Turn right onto Cathedral Pl, 0.07 mi. The Museum and ARCHIVES of the Archdiocese at 223 CATHEDRAL PL is on the left.
 * from East of Santa Fe on I-25 (Canam Hwy): Merge onto I-25 S/US-85 S/US-84 North toward Santa Fe. Take the NM-466/Old Pecos Tr exit, EXIT 284, 0.2 mi. Turn slight right onto NM-466/Old Pecos Trl, 1.3 mi. Turn slight right onto Old Pecos Trl, 1.6 mi. Turn slight left onto Old Santa Fe Trl, 0.3 mi. Turn right onto Paseo de Peralta, 0.4 mi. Turn left onto E Alameda St, 0.09 mi. Take the 1st right onto Cathedral Pl, 0.09 mi. The Museum and ARCHIVES of the Archdiocese at 223 CATHEDRAL PL is on the right.


 * Public transportation Santa Fe Trails city bus routes Route M Museum Hill route stops on E Alameda St near Cathedral Pl about half a block south of the Museum and ARCHIVES.

Internet sites and databases:


 * Office of Historic-Artistic Patrimony and Archives research, photograph and filming policy, Archbishops Commission for the Preservation of Historic New Mexico Churches, contact information, Museum hours.
 * Hispanic Genealogical Research Center (HGRC) an Internet database called the Great New Mexico Pedigree Database (GNMPD)  for Hispanic ancestors of New Mexico and their descendants.

Collection Description
Created in 1850 from part of the Archdiocese of Durango (Mexico), the Archdiocese of Santa Fe once included Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico, but has been sub-divided and is now limited to only part of northern New Mexico.

The Santa Fe Archives of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Santa Fe contain historical religious documents about the people of New Mexico, leaders, parishes, and the Archdiocese, and some older records for Arizona and Colorado. This includes microfilms of many parish registers from 1678 to 1950. Copies of these microfilms are also accessible at the Family History Library and at Family History Centers. No recent parish registers from the Archdiocese of Santa Fe are available for genealogical research.

The Archdiocese offices on the West Mesa in Albuquerque are also home to the Hispanic Genealogical Research Center (HGRC) of New Mexico. This includes the Great New Mexico Pedigree Database (GNMPD), an Internet database for Hispanic ancestors of New Mexico and their descendants.

Jurisdiction and Cathedra
Presently the Archdiocese of Santa Fe covers an area of 61,142 square miles. There are 91 parish seats and 216 active missions throughout this area.

The liturgical center and "cathedra" or chair of the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe to this day remain in Santa Fe. Administrative offices of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, however, were relocated to Albuquerque by Archbishop James Peter Davis, ninth Archbishop of Santa Fe, in 1967. The administration of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe is now conducted from offices located at the Catholic Center on the West Mesa in Albuquerque.

History
Pope Pius IX created the Vicariate Apostolic of New Mexico on July 19, 1850. Its first Bishop was Father Jean Baptiste Lamy who arrived in New Mexico in the summer of 1851. Within two years the Vicariate Apostolic had become a See in its own right, the Diocese of Santa Fe. On February 12, 1875, the Diocese of Santa Fe was elevated to an Archdiocese with Bishop Lamy as its first Archbishop. After the death of Archbishop Lamy (February 14, 1888), John Baptist Salpointe became the Archbishop.

The territory covered by the Archdiocese of Santa Fe was so immense,that in time it began dividing itself into other entities. Arizona and Colorado Vicerates were created and later became dioceses. The southernmost part of New Mexico is now the Diocese of Las Cruces which was created on October 18, 1982. The north western and west central portion of New Mexico became part of the Diocese of Gallup when it was created on December 16, 1939.

Tip
Appointments are required for any type of personal or professional research or use of archive materials; this includes all types of research and/or use of material including use of the library, research for genealogical, or family history, or church history.

Alternate Repositories
If you cannot visit or find a source at the , a similar source may be available at one of the following.

Overlapping Collections


 * National Archives I, Washington DC, census, pre-WWI military service &amp; pensions, passenger lists, naturalizations, passports, federal bounty land, homesteads, bankruptcy, ethnic sources, prisons, and federal employees.
 * New Mexico State Records Center and Archives, Santa Fe, Roman Catholic church records, censuses, district court, land grants, wills, diaries, family papers, prisons, family and local histories, newspapers. NM's best genealogy repository because of its original territorial, state, and county records.
 * New Mexico State Library, Santa Fe, history, biography, ethnic studies, newspapers, government documents, maps, periodicals, and genealogies. Largest book collection in New Mexico.
 * New Mexico Genealogical Society, Albuquerque, manuscripts, newspapers, periodicals, histories, directories, maps, photos.
 * Historical Society of New Mexico, Santa Fe, increasing knowledge and preserving New Mexico history through conferences, publications, plaques, a speakers bureau, and Internet links.

Similar Collections


 * UNM Center for Southwest Research, Albuquerque, Includes manuscripts of Southwestern U.S. families, organizations, and businesses, 40,000 books and periodicals, and 120,000 images since the 1850s.
 * Hispanic Genealogical Research Center (HGRC) of New Mexico, Albuquerque, maintains the Great New Mexico Pedigree Database (GNMPD)  for Hispanic ancestors of New Mexico.
 * National Hispanic Cultural Center, Albuquerque, photographs, maps, manuscripts, and genealogies. The library contains 12,500 book titles about the history and culture of the Hispano world from the U.S. Southwest, Mexico, Central America, Latin America to Spain, and Portugal.
 * Fray Angélico Chávez History Library, Santa Fe, colonial and territorial manuscripts, papers, newspapers, rare books, maps, and photos—rivals in size the State Records Center and Archives.
 * NMSU Rio Grande Historical Collections, Las Cruces, early colonial Spanish records since 1598 for families along the Camino Real (Spanish mission road) from southern Colorado to Mexico City.

Neighboring Collections


 * Santa Fe County Clerk marriages (restricted for 50 years), death certificates, wills, deeds, mortgages, DD Form 214 soldier discharges.
 * Santa Fe County Probate Court recent wills.
 * Santa Fe County Coroner selected death records.
 * First Judicial District Court of New Mexico, Santa Fe, civil, and criminal court records.
 * New Mexico Dept. of Health Vital Records, Santa Fe, adoption, births (restricted for 100 years), and deaths (restricted for 50 years).
 * Repositories in surrounding counties: Bernalillo, Los Alamos, Mora, Rio Arriba, San Miguel, Sandoval, and Torrance.
 * ABC Library Genealogy Center, Albuquerque, genealogy and Southwestern history, including New Mexico vital records, history, biography, periodicals, and family folders.
 * ABC Library Special Collections Albuquerque and New Mexico history and culture. In-house use only.
 * Repositories in surrounding states (or nations): AZ, CO, OK, TX, UT, and Mexico.
 * Bancroft Library, Berkeley, CA, premier Western Americana, and Latin Americana collections, including Native Americans, Spanish encounter and colonial settlement, exploration of western America, maps and atlases, the Mexican War, westward migration, the Gold Rush, mining, land surveys, ethnic groups.
 * Family History Library, Salt Lake City, 450 computers, 3,400 databases, 3.1 million microforms, 4,500 periodicals, 310,000 books of worldwide family and local histories, civil, church, immigration, ethnic, military, Mormon records.
 * National Archives Rocky Mountain Region (Denver) Includes old New Mexico court records and naturalizations, federal and Indian censuses, passenger arrival lists, World War I draft registrations.
 * Archivo General de la Nación (AGN), Mexico City, church, civil, census, court, history, military, migration, land. Copies of colonial New Mexico records of were often sent to Mexico and Spain.