
Welcome to The Academy of American Franciscan History!
The Academy of American Franciscan History is a research institute affiliated with the Franciscan School of Theology in Oceanside, California.
We are dedicated to the encouragement of the study of the Franciscan Order in the Americas primarily through the publication of monographs, documents, a scholarly journal, as well as sponsoring seminars, conferences, and public lectures.

News
Completion of Project Bringing Web Access to the Early Franciscan Sources
August 31, 2020. The Commission on the Franciscan Intellectual Tradition (CFIT) announces the full incorporation onto its website of the classic three-volume series on the life and mission of St. Francis, Francis of Assisi: Early Documents, as well as a companion...
New Book! Charity for and by the Poor by Laura Dierksmeier
Spanish colonization of Latin America in the sixteenth century continues to provoke scholarly debate. Spanish missionaries employed various strategies to convert indigenous inhabitants to the Catholic faith, including operating schools, organizing choirs, and...
FRANCISCANS & THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENTS: FATHER NATHANIEL AND THE COST OF LEADERSHIP
Paul Murray, Ph. D.Professor Emeritus, Department of Sociology, Siena College. When: Friday, October 25, 2019, | 6:00 PM Where: San Damiano Hall129 West 31st StreetNew York City Sponsored by The Academy of American Franciscan History
History
Since its founding in 1943, the Academy has published over forty volumes, all dealing with the history of the Franciscans in the Americas. Its publications include numerous monographs on topics of American Franciscan history as well as definitive editions of the writings of American Franciscan missionaries, such as Junípero Serra, Fermín Francisco de Lasuén, Francisco Palóu, Toribio de Motolinía, and others. Follow this link to the Bookstore.
The Academy’s quarterly journal, The Americas, has been one of the leading journals of Latin American History since its inception in 1944. It publishes articles and reviews books on the history of all geographical regions of the Americas throughout their rich history. The editorial offices are located in the Department of History at Drexel University in Philadelphia.
In 1989 the Academy moved from Washington, D.C., to Berkeley, Calif. The Academy is part of the Franciscan School of Theology, once part of the Graduate Theological Union. The new location affords scholars ready access to the extensive holdings of the Bancroft Library of the University of California. In 2013, the Franciscan School of Theology moved to Oceanside, Calif., and is now housed on the campus of Mission San Luis Rey. This means that the Mission Archives of Old Mission Santa Barbara are only a few hours away.
The Academy Library is divided into two sections: The collection of books, periodicals and reference works [approximately 10,000 volumes in all] is presently housed in the Washington Theological Union, near Takoma Park, in the District of Columbia. The rare books, manuscripts, Tibesar pamphlet collection, and photoreproductions [microfilm and photocopies] held by the Academy are housed in Berkeley.
Previously Published Books
Charity for and by the Poor: Franciscan and Indigenous Confraternities in Mexico, 1527–1700
By Laura Dierksmeier
Nahua Confraternities in Early Colonial Mexico: the 1552 Nahuatl Ordinances of
Fray Alonso de Molina, OFM
Franciscan Presence in the Americas (1492-1900)
Essays on the Activities of the Franciscan Friars in the Americas
Edited by Francisco Morales, OFM. Potomac, MD, 1983.
The Americas cumulative index Volumes I-XX
Edited by Jane Herrick. Washington, DC, 1967.
A Bio-bibliography of Franciscan Authors in Colonial Central America
Eleanor B. Adams, Washington, DC, 1953.
2008 Inventario del Fondo Francisco del Museo de Antropologia e Historia de Mexico, Volume II
Francisco Morales, OFM. Mexico, 2008.
The Americas cumulative index Volumes I-XX
Edited by Jane Herrick. Washington, DC, 1967.
Hispanic Catholicism in Transitional California: The Life of Jose Gonzalez Rubio OFM (1804-1875)
Michael Charles Neri. Berkeley, CA, 1997.
Writings of Fermin Francisco de Lasuen
Translated and edited by Finbar Kenneally, OFM. Washington, DC, 1965.
2003 Sahagun at 500: Essays on the Quincentenary of the Birth of Fr. Bernardino de Sahagun
Edited by John F. Schwaller
After the Year Eighty ” the Demise of Franciscan Power in Spanish New Mexico
Jim Norris. In cooperation with the University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, NM, 2000.
Formative Years of the Missionary College of Santa Cruz, Queretaro: 1683-1733
Michael B. McCloskey, OFM. Washington, DC, 1955.
Vasco de Quiroga and his Pueblo-Hospitals of Santa Fe
Fintan B. Warren, OFM. Washington, DC 1963.
Fermin Francisco de Lasuen (1736-1803): A Biography
Francis F. Guest, OFM. Washington, DC, 1973
To Toil in That Vineyard of the Lord: Contemporary Scholarship on Junipero Serra
Edited by Rose Marie Beebe and Robert M. Senkewicz
Guia del Archivo Franciscano de la Biblioteca Nacional de Mexico
Ignacio del Rio, with Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexido, Mexico, 1975
2010 The Power of Song: Music and Dance in Mission Communities of Northern New Spain
Kristin Mann
The California Recollections of Augustias de la Guerra Ord
A Spanish Frontier in an Enlightened Age:
Franciscan Beginnings in Sonora and Arizona, 1767-1770
Kieran McCarty, OFM, Washington, DC, 1981
Cronica de los Colegios de Propaganda Fide en la Nueva Espana
Fray Isidro Felix de Espinosa, OFM. Ed. Lino G. Canedo, OFM. Second Edition. Madrid, 1964.
Junipero Serra and the Northwestern Mexican Frontier (1750-1825)
Studies presented at the Chicago Serra Program
Edited by Antonine Tibesar, OFM
Reprinted from TAm Vol. XLI, No. 4 (April, 1985)
Life of Fray Antonio Margil, OFM
Eduardo Enrique Rios. Trans. Benedict Leutenegger, OFM. Washington, DC, 1959.
Zumarraga and his Family: Letters to Vizcaya 1536-1548,
A Collection of Documents in Relation to the Founding of a Hospice in His Birthplace
Edited by Richard Greenleaf. Translated by Neal Kaveny, OFM. Washington, DC, 1979.
Ethnic and Social Backgrounds of the Franciscan Friars in Seventeenth Century Mexico
Francisco Morales, OFM. Washington, DC, 1973
Writings of Mariano Payeras
Translated and edited by Donald Cutter. In cooperation with Bellerophon Books, Santa Barbara, CA, 1995.
Motifs of Franciscan Mission Theory in Sixteenth Century New Spain
Edwin Edward Sylvest, Jr. Washington, DC 1975.
A Guide to Nahuatl Language Manuscripts held in United States’ Repositories
John Frederick Schwaller. Berkeley, CA, 2001.
The Apostolic Chronicle of Juan Domingo Arricivita: The Franciscan Mission Frontier
in the 18th Century in Arizona, Texas and the Californias
Translated by George P. Hammond & Agapito Rey. Ed. Vivian C. Fisher. Berkeley, CA, 1996.
The Inquisition in Colonial Latin America: Selected Writings of Richard E. Greenleaf
Edited by James D. Riley, 2010
Junipero Serra Studies
Antonine Tibesar, OFM
Writings of Junipero Serra
Edited by Antonine Tibesar, OFM Washington, DC, 1955
United States Documents in the Propaganda Fide Archives: A Calendar. Volume 3
Finbar Kinneally et al, eds. Washington, DC
United States Documents in the Propaganda Fide Archives: a Calendar. Volume 8
Finbar Kinneally et al, eds. Washington, DC
United States Documents in the Propaganda Fide Archives: a Calendar. Volume 9
Finbar Kinneally et al, eds. Washington, DC
United States Documents in the Propaganda Fide Archives: a Calendar. Volume 10
Finbar Kinneally et al, eds. Washington, DC
United States Documents in the Propaganda Fide Archives: a Calendar. Volume 11
Finbar Kinneally et al, eds. Washington, DC
2001 United States Documents in the Propaganda Fide Archives: a Calendar. Volume 12
Edited by Finbar Kinneally et al, Washington, DC
United States Documents in the Propaganda Fide Archives: a Calendar
Index to Vols 1-7
Contact the Academy
Academy of American Franciscan History
5998 Alcalá Park
San Diego CA 92110
(760) 547-1800
Dr. Jeffery M. Burns, Director
acadafh@fst.edu
Dr. John F. Schwaller
jfschwaller@gmail.com
General Information
info@aafh.org