Who's behind the news?
Who's behind the news?
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Newsjunkie.net is a resource guide for journalists. We show who's behind the news, and provide tools to help navigate the modern business of information.
Use of Data
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The Archivo Histórico Genaro Estrada is the historical archive of Mexico's Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores (SRE, Ministry of Foreign Affairs) and the principal repository of Mexico's diplomatic documentary heritage. Its origins lie with the Secretaría de Estado y del Despacho de Relaciones Exteriores e Interiores, established in 1821 at the time of Mexican independence, and its consular and diplomatic representations abroad. In 1923, Genaro Estrada, then Oficial Mayor (Chief Administrative Officer) of the Chancellery, initiated the first systematic effort to organize the archive's holdings by establishing a committee of archivists to order and classify all existing files. The archive was formally created as a distinct institution in 1968, and was named in honor of Estrada in recognition of his foundational contribution and distinguished diplomatic career.
In 1989, the oversight body was renamed the Dirección General del Acervo Histórico Diplomático. Following the Chancellery's relocation to Plaza Juárez in 2006, the Archivo Histórico Genaro Estrada, along with the Fototeca Amalia González Caballero and the Archivo de Concentración, moved to the Edificio Triangular at Av. Ricardo Flores Magón No. 2 in Tlatelolco. A conservation, restoration, and bookbinding workshop was established within the archive in 1973. Since 1923, the SRE has published the important collection Archivo Histórico Diplomático Mexicano, founded by Genaro Estrada himself, which has grown to more than 800 titles.
The Archivo Histórico Genaro Estrada holds approximately five thousand linear meters of documentation organized into around one hundred documentary funds, covering the period from 1821 to 1995. The holdings are grouped into three main categories:
The archive also maintains the Bóveda de Tratados, which holds all bilateral and multilateral treaties signed by Mexico since independence. Additionally, the Acervo Histórico Diplomático encompasses the Fototeca Amalia González Caballero de Castillo Ledón (photographic collection) and the Biblioteca José María Lafragua (specialized library), located at the former Colegio de la Santa Cruz de Tlatelolco.
The Archivo Histórico Genaro Estrada contains extensive newspaper clippings from diplomatic missions worldwide, organized within the records of specific embassies and the Secretaría Particular. These press extracts cover international political events and their coverage in foreign media, making the archive a valuable source for the history of international journalism and press coverage of Mexico. Key historical events documented include the U.S. invasion of Mexico, the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo, the Texas War, the Empire of Maximilian of Habsburg, the Mexican Revolution, the Oil Expropriation of 1938, and major international conferences. The diplomatic fund includes records from 1910 onward on political, commercial, and cultural relations, regularly consulted by historians of media and international communications.
The archive is open to investigators and the general public. Each of the three major documentary groups has its own finding aids, including general inventories, guides, and thematic and chronological catalogues available for consultation in the reading room. The archive has contributed 1,609 digitized resources to the Memórica digital repository. Publications of the SRE are available for sale at the Librería Ignacio Mariscal in Plaza Juárez, Mexico City, and are distributed to universities, research centers, and government institutions.
Website: portales.sre.gob.mx/acervo
Digital collections: acervo.sre.gob.mx