Archivo General de la Provincia de San Juan General Archive of the Province of San Juan

Overview

The Archivo General de la Provincia de San Juan (General Archive of the Province of San Juan) is the official provincial archive of San Juan Province, Argentina. It preserves and provides access to the documentary heritage of the province's public administration, holding materials that span multiple centuries of San Juan's history.

History and Founding

The archive was created by Decree No. 508 on 22 September 1931 under the name Archivo Administrativo e Histórico (Administrative and Historical Archive). Over subsequent decades it underwent several renamings, including Museo Histórico de la Provincia and Archivo Histórico Administrativo. In 1984, the archive gained formal legislative recognition with the passage of Law No. 5307, which placed it within the Ministry of Government and Social Action. It later came under the Secretariat of Culture and Education and is currently under the Ministry of Government, within the Secretariat of Institutional Relations. In 2014, the governing legislation was re-designated as Law No. 279-A through the Provincial Legal Digest.

Collections and Holdings

The archive holds administrative, judicial, notarial, and historical records of the Province of San Juan. Among its most significant holdings is a digital high-quality copy of the Plano de Ciudad de San Juan de la Frontera dated 1562, certified by the Archivo General de Indias of Seville, Spain. The Biblioteca y Hemeroteca (Library and Newspaper Room) department holds a substantial collection of bibliographic and press materials, including newspapers and periodicals from 1870 to the present. The archive receives mandatory deposit copies of all official provincial publications and all newspapers circulating in the province.

Notable Materials for Journalism and Media Research

The Hemeroteca (newspaper collection) is of particular value to journalism researchers, providing a continuous run of provincial and national periodicals from 1870 to the present day, including official gazettes and privately published newspapers.

Access and Usage

The archive is located on the 3rd floor, Module 8, South Wing of the Civic Centre in San Juan. Researchers, students, and the general public may consult the collections in person and may arrange guided visits. Contact is available by email and telephone. The provincial archive also anchors the Sistema Provincial de Archivo (SIPAR), a network coordinating archives across the province.