Valentín Gómez Farías Collection

The Valentín Gómez Farías Collection, which forms part of the Genaro García Collection, was purchased by the University of Texas in 1921 from the heirs of Genaro García. The collection was described by the Benson's Mexican Archives Project in December 1994.

The physical extent of the collection comprises five linear feet. The materials are in Spanish; their bulk dates are 1822-1879. They are also available on microfilm.

The following guides are available in Rare Books Reference:

Ynsfran, Pablo Max, Catálogo de los manuscritos del archivo de don Valentín Gómez Farías Mexico, Editorial Jus, 1968.

Castañeda, Carlos E. and Jack Autrey Dabbs, eds., Guide to the Latin American Manuscripts in the University of Texas Library. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press, 1939.

The suggested citation for the collection is "Valentín Gómez Farías Collection, 1770-1909, Benson Latin American Collection, General Libraries, University of Texas at Austin."

Political leader and interim president of Mexico. Born 1781 in Guadalajara; died 1858 in Mexico City. Gómez Farías practiced medicine in Aguascalientes where he was magistrate of the municipal government. Other offices he held include: deputy to the congress of Cádiz (1812), deputy to the first constituent congress (1821), senator for Jalisco (1825-1830), and minister of Treasury (Feb.-March 1833). In 1833 Gómez Farías was elected vice-president under Antonio López de Santa Anna. In 1833, 1834, 1846, and 1847, he served intermittently as interim president in Santa Anna's absence. Gómez Farías led the movement known as the First Reform, which attempted to diminish the power of the church in civil affairs and to establish public education and other reforms. In 1850 he ran unsuccessfully for the presidency of Mexico. In 1855 he was president of the junta of representatives of the Plan of Ayutla. In 1856, as deputy for Jalisco, he presided over the national constituent congress.

The Valentín Gómez Farías Collection is comprised of two subgroups: I.Materials on Mexico, 1770-1909, and II.Papers about Texas, 1833-1848. The documents are arranged numerically.

Subgroup I, materials on Mexico, constitutes over 95 percent of the collection. It includes correspondence, proclamations, notes, financial documents, reports, proposals, official documents, and assorted items relating to the history, politics, and government of Mexico during the nineteenth century and to the public and private life and beliefs of Valentín Gómez Farías. Also included are an item dated 1770-1786 about taxes belonging to the Pious Fund of the Californias, and newspaper clippings from 1909 about the constituent congress.

Correspondents include members of the Gómez Farías family and many prominent persons including Antonio López de Santa Anna, Lucas Alamán, Mariano Arista, Juan Nepomuceno Almonte, Juan Álvarez, Nicolás Bravo, Anastasio Bustamante, Manuel González Cosio, Manuel Gómez Pedraza, José María Luis Mora, Francisco Modesto de Olaguibel, Mariano Paredes y Arrillaga, Manuel Crescencio Rejón, Jose Mariano Salas, and others. Typescripts made from some of the letters and official documents are present in the collection. Most of the notes, many of which are copied from the Old Testament, pertain to religion, ethics, and morality.

Subgroup II, dated 1833-1848, contains correspondence, reports, official documents, notes, and assorted items pertaining to the history of Texas and the U.S.-Mexico War. Included are copies of the 1833 and 1836 constitutions of Texas.

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