The AGEY in its diamond anniversary: achievements and lacks of the most important archive of the southeast of Mexico

Abstract

The main objective of this paper is to analyze the development of the Archivo General del Estado de Yucatán, the central archival institution of the state, founded in 1945, just when the archives in Mexico faced a critical crisis that led them to lose the fundamental rol that they performed whitin the public administration. In reconstructing this development, we found that it depended for decades on the personal relationship of those responsable, as well as on the care –in fact almost always the desinterest- of the governors on duty; but also the certainty that the talent, dedication and even heroism of some of its directors achieved the construction of a professional, modern, efficient institution, adhering to the highest international standards. As part of this outlook, we also present, in a very synthetic way, a description of the documentary records of its Historical Archive, wich have been significantly enriched in recent years.