Research at the Archive
Mission Era Document Collections
The Finding Guides for these major collections comprise the official archive of the Franciscan Friars and the California missions.
These collections had their inception during the months when Joseph de Gálvez and Fray Junípero Serra planned the exploration of Alta California in 1768. The original archive remained in Serra's hands until his death in 1784. It was passed on to succeeding presidentes of the mission system. In 1833, Fray Narciso Durán, then-president, moved from Mission San José to Santa Bárbara. The documents remained at Santa Bárbara ever since. As friars elsewhere confronted mission secularization and confiscation in the 19th century, they sent their missions' historical documents and materials to Mission Santa Bárbara, which has remained in the hands of the Franciscans from its founding in 1786 until the present day.
The materials should be considered original manuscripts in Spanish, unless noted otherwise. These finding guides are the lifelong work and creation of historian and archivist, Fr. Maynard Geiger, O.F.M., Ph.D.
Junípero Serra Collection
This collection comprises the original documents of the Fernandino Archives: the writings of Serra, letters written to him, and documents concerning him. Added to these are copies of documents in the same categories, most of which were obtained in the search between 1941 and 1949 in reference to his cause for eventual canonization. In the main these documents were composed between the years 1713 and 1784, though some are later. A small number of documents not relating to Serra but which fall within his period are also included in this category. The Serra material in the SBMAL forms the largest body of Serrana in any one archive in the world.
California Mission Documents
This collection comprises the original documents preserved by the presidents of the missions between 1785 and 1853. With these have been integrated copies from other repositories.
Archives of the Friar Presidents of the Missions of Alta California
The following collections represent the official documents and records that the missionaries compiled to report on the goings-on at the missions. They include information on the numbers of sacraments performed, the number of livestock and crops produced, the number of Native and non-Native Peoples present, as well as other information.
Mission Reports - Filled out by the friars posted at each of the missions. Annual reports provide statistics about the population, as well as crops, livestock, and construction. Biennial reports provide the difference in population over a two-year period. The collection also includes occasional inventories from the missions.
Biennial Reports (Noticias) - Filled out by the president of the missions. In addition to statistics, these reports contain the president's comments on the data as well as noteworthy news and events.
State of the Missions - Filled out by the president of the missions. These provide a system-wide overview of the data from each individual mission's annual reports.
Preguntas y Respuestas - In the early nineteenth century the Spanish government sent out questionnaires to its colonies seeking information on the customs of the Native Peoples living under its jurisdiction. The Friars at the Alta California Missions provided answers to these questionnaires and returned them to the President of the Missions. These documents provide unique insight into the lives and experiences of Native Californians living around the Missions during the Mission Era.
Confesionarios - A confesionario (handbook for confessors) provided formulas for making confessions and granting absolutions. These include specimens in Native languages (Mutsun, Barbareño, and Ventureño).
Sacramental Registers
Santa Bárbara Mission Archive-Library holds original manuscripts and reproductions of many of the sacramental registers the Friars kept during the Mission Era. These important accounts record the celebration of sacraments at the Missions, such as baptism, marriage, and burial. These unique records provide information about the experiences of individual Native Californians during the Mission Era, and are researched extensively by scholars and genealogists alike.
California Missions Sacramental Registers
Baja California Missions Sacramental Registers
Friar Diaries
Santa Bárbara Mission Archive-Library’s diary collection primarily consists of the diaries of Franciscan Friars at the Alta California missions during the 18th and 19th centuries.
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The Santa Bárbara Mission Archive-Library would like to thank the Academy of American Franciscan History and the California Missions Foundation for their generous support of our efforts to conserve the Junípero Serra Collection and the California Mission Documents Collection through digitization.