Archivo General de Puerto Rico

Overview

The Archivo General de Puerto Rico (General Archives of Puerto Rico) is the official repository of Puerto Rico's public documents, sharing a building with the Puerto Rico National Library and operating under the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture (ICP).

History

In 1955, the Puerto Rico Legislature passed Law No. 5, creating the Archivo General de Puerto Rico (AGPR) as the official depository for the island's public documents; it was first located on Calle San Francisco in Old San Juan. The Institute of Puerto Rican Culture began overseeing its operation in 1956, under the leadership of the ICP's founding executive director, Dr. Ricardo Alegría, who worked to recover historical documents dispersed among institutions in Puerto Rico and the United States. Many of Puerto Rico's original historical records had been sent to the U.S. Library of Congress following the 1898 end of Spanish sovereignty, per the terms of the Treaty of Paris; the Library of Congress later returned a portion of these records. In 1973, the Archives moved into its current shared home with the National Library in the building now known as the Edificio Dr. Ricardo Alegría, at Avenida de la Constitución #500, Puerta de Tierra, San Juan — a 19th-century structure built as a civil hospital but never used for that purpose, and listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. The building was renamed in Alegría's honor by the Puerto Rico legislature in 2014.

Collections, Holdings, and Publications

Holdings include manuscripts, notarial protocols, wealth assessments, censuses, plans, photographs, videos, and music documenting Puerto Rican history, and are considered the most important repository of primary sources on the island's history. Digital collections include the Fondo Fortaleza (Governor's Office records, 1857-2015), the Fondo Municipio de San Juan (1722-1955), and the WKAQ-TV news department collection (1954-1995).

Access and Usage

The Archives is located at Avenida de la Constitución #500, Puerta de Tierra, San Juan, Puerto Rico.