The Aramayo-Francke Archives

Guide to Aramayo-Francke Archives [PDF format]

Mining has been, arguably, the most important economic activity in Bolivia over the past five centuries. However, while a large volume of documentation exists for mining in the colonial period, very few archival sources exist for the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The papers of the Aramayo-Francke Company, one of the principal mining companies of the nineteenth century and one of the "Big Three" during the twentieth-century tin mining boon have survived and are located in Tupiza (southern Bolivia) in the warehouse of the state mining company, COMIBOL. LAMP voted at its 1996 annual meeting to film at least part of the archives.

The archive contains a set of 256 "Copiadores de Cartas," copies of letters sent as well as binders of letters received. The "Copiadores" contain not just business correspondence, but also the private correspondence of Felix Avelino Aramayo, revealing many personal facets of the lives of mining elites and of social history.

Prior to the preservation project being shut down, LAMP was able to film approximately 75% of the "Copiadores." The contents of the first 34 reels of film are listed in sequential order and as a subject guide that attempts to organize the material by description and chronological order.  A print version of the guide is also available from the Center for Research Libraries.

Descripción del Contenido de los Rollos

Subject Guide

• Unidentified/ Miscellaneous
• Antofagasta
• Avisos y Cartas
• Correspondencia
• Conocimientos
• Finanzas
• Londres – Paris
• Potosi
• Quechisla / Chorolque / Tasna / Tupiza / Cotani
• Tarija
• Telegramas
• Venta de Minerales