The Alberto Francisco Pradeau Collection houses correspondence, typescripts, transcriptions, translations, photocopies, photostats, and printed matter documenting Pradeau's research on colonial and nineteenth century Mexican history and currency. Although the collection extends from 1551 to 1981, the bulk of the material constitutes the products of Pradeau's research from 1910 to 1979. The collection has been arranged into eight series.
Identification:
MSS-67
Language:
Material in Spanish and Castilian with some English
Repository:
Arizona State University Library. Chicano Research Collection P.O. Box 871006 Tempe, AZ 85287-1006 Phone: (480) 965-4932 E-Mail: archives@asu.edu Questions? Ask An Archivist!
Biographical Note
Alberto Francisco Pradeau, dentist, historian, and numismatist, was born in Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico on May 15, 1894 to French parents Albert Antoine Pradeau and Guadalupe Aviles Rochin. His father was born on January 7, 1866 in Issoudin, Indre, France and died in France on October 4, 1939. His mother was born on December 24, 1870 in Alamos, Sonora, Mexico and died in Los Angeles, California on December 18, 1935.
Pradeau received his primary education in his home town and his secondary education in Alamos, Sonora, Mexico. He migrated to the United States in 1916 and attended high schools in San Francisco and Los Angeles. He graduated from the University of Southern California College of Dentistry in 1923, specializing in oral diseases. He became a naturalized citizen of the United States in November of 1931.
Although Pradeau maintained a highly successful and lucrative dentistry office near Los Angeles, California, he spent much of his life investigating and writing the history of northern Mexico. His interest in the territory ceded to the United States by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo on February 2, 1848 began in 1908 when he read Samuel Woodworth Cozzens' The Ancient Cibola, the Marvelous Country.
Beginning in 1928, Pradeau published a number of books on the Jesuit spiritual conquest of northwestern New Spain and Mexican numismatic history from pre-Columbian days to 1950. His work on the expulsion of the Jesuits, La Expulsion de los Jesuits de Sonora, Ostimuri y Sinaloa en 1767 (published in Mexico in 1959), is the standard and most recognized work on the subject. His interest in Mexican history also resulted in the 1976 publication of his most important work, an English translation of Father Juan Nentuig's Rudo Ensayo.
Pradeau's second specialty and all-consuming hobby was numismatics. He was awarded the American Numismatic Association's Medal of Merit in 1969 for his contribution to the American Numismatic Association and to numismatics. The Medal read "There can be no separation of your name from the study of coins from our neighbor to the south, Mexico ... Your Numismatic History of Mexico, published in 1938, has been and still is recognized as a standard in the field."
At the age of 82 and recognized nationwide as the Dean of Mexican Numismatics, Pradeau was summoned to Florida in 1976 to authenticate Mel Fisher's 1971 discovery of the cargo of the sunken Spanish galleon, the Nuestra Senora de Atocha. When the Atocha sank off the Florida keys in 1622 during a fierce and violent hurricane, it was on its way from Cuba to Spain. According to the manifest found in an archive in Seville, Spain the Atocha carried 901 silver ingots, 250,000 silver coins, 161 pieces of gold bullion, an unknown quantity of contraband, and some gold and silver coins and personal belongings of some very wealthy merchants who were passengers. Pradeau later said that "[i]t was on the of the most exciting events of my life to see and test the find from the Atocha." His painstaking 10-day efforts were rewarded when the treasure was authenticated and found to be worth millions of dollars.
Pradeau was twice married: first to Mary Ann Zellars on November 16, 1937 (divorced) and second to Martha Carolina Miller on January 7, 1951. Pradeau died on July 29, 1980 in Los Angeles, California.
Scope and Content Note
The Alberto Francisco Pradeau Collection houses correspondence, typescripts, transcriptions, translations, photocopies, photostats, and printed matter documenting Pradeau's research on colonial and nineteenth century Mexican history and currency. Although the collection extends from 1551 to 1981, the bulk of the material constitutes the products of Pradeau's research from 1910 to 1979. The collection has been arranged into eight series.
Series I: Fraternal Organizations includes correspondence, pamphlets, records, and publications documenting the Alianza Hispano Americana (in which Pradeau was an active member) from 1919 to 1930. Founded in Tucson, Arizona in 1894, the Alianza was a fraternal organization that offered insurance and burial benefits to its members. Also included are rare Spanish documents and publications showing various Mexican fraternal organizations from 1862 to 1930.
Series II: History of Mexico is comprised of Pradeau's writings, personal notes, and unpublished manuscripts showing his interest in Mexican history and especially in the 17th and 18th centuries. Series III: History of the Mission System and the Jesuits in Mexico contains Pradeau's personal research in Mexican religious history. The bulk of the series houses his writings, drafts, notes, and meticulous research that resulted in major publications on themes related to the expulsion of the Jesuits from Mexico in the 1700s. Pradeau was also interested in the history and origins of the mission system that the Spaniards established throughout Mexico.
Series IV: Numismatic History of Mexico houses handwritten notes, reports, writings, and drafts of many unpublished manuscripts regarding the Mexican numismatics, including coins and the Mexican mint. Series V: Manuscripts, Drafts, Research Notes for Publications consists of Pradeau's personal research notes, which he compiled and used for many of his own publications. His notes are written in Spanish; other items are typed drafts and copies of his manuscripts.
Series VI: Personal Correspondence contains letters to and from fellow researchers, scholars, students, and colleagues in Mexican and Jesuit history and in Mexican numismatic history. The personal letters date from the 1930s to the 1970s and reveal Pradeau's national reputation and the high esteem that some who read Pradeau's work held him in. Much of the correspondence is written in Spanish.
Series VII: Research Files/Notes consists of personal files and notes taken on a wide variety of subjects that Pradeau was interested in. The majority of these notes document various periods in Mexican history. Series VIII: Personal Documents/Records includes original letters, birth certificates, tourist records, and marriage records documenting Alberto Pradeau and his family. Of particular interest is a Mexican Naturalization Certificate dated March 5, 1885 signed by Mexican President Porfiro Diaz.
Arrangement
This collection consists of seven boxes divided into eight series:
To view this collection, make an appointment at least five business days prior to your visit by contacting Ask an Archivist or calling (480) 965-4932. Appointments in the Wurzburger Reading Room at Hayden Library (rm. 138) on the Tempe campus are available Monday through Friday. Check the ASU Library Hours page for current availability.
Copyright
Arizona State University does not own the copyright to this collection. We recognize that it is incumbent upon the researcher to procure permission to publish information from this collection from the owner of the copyright.
[Identification of item], Alberto Francisco Pradeau Collection, MSS-67, Arizona State University Library.
Provenance
Martha (Miller) Pradeau donated these papers to the Chicano Research Collection in 1982 and 1986 (Accession #1990-00368A and 1995-01511).
Processing Note
Folder titles used in this guide were transcribed directly from those used by Pradeau in his original file folders. Information in brackets was added by the archivist. Virtually all of the pre-twentieth century materials in this collection are photocopies, photostats, translations, or transcriptions of original documents not held by the Chicano Research Collection. Inclusive dates represent the dates of the original documents rather than the date of their reproduction.
La Casa Moneda de Guadalajara, Mexico, 1813-1815,
1821, 1970 (Typescript and Photocopy)
4
5
Guadelajara y su Deseada Cases de Moneda, 1571-1788,
1974, Undated (Typescript and Photocopy)
4
6
Bibliografia Numismatica de Mexico, 1535-1938,
1945, Undated (Correspondence, Publications, Transcriptions, and Photocopies)
4
7
The Arizpe Mint, 1776-1784,
1974 (Typescript and Publication)
4
8
The Coinage of Emiliano Zapata,
1969, Undated (Typescript and Publication)
4
9
Caborca: Medalla Commeroativa,
1959 (Typescript)
4
10
The Coinage of Sonora During the 19th Century,
1962 (Typescript)
4
11
Henry Mieggs Medals,
1944 (Typescript)
4
12
Guaymas Medal, 1854,
1954 (Typescript)
4
13
California Mediae of Exchange, 1500-1847,
1939 (Typescript)
4
14
The Liberty Cap as a Symbol,
1954 (Typescript)
4
15
Store-cards or Tokens of Mexico,
1955 (Typescript)
4
16
Fake Kino Slugs,
1968 (Typescript)
4
17
Coinage of San Luis Potosi, 1827-1893,
1938 (Typescript)
4
18
La Sentencia de Manuel Rionada, 1830,
Undated (Typescript)
4
19
Republican Mexico Estados: Notes on Mints,
1947-1948 (Typescript)
4
20
Numismatic History of Sinaloa, 1846-1905,
1950, 1952 (Typescript)
4
21
Culiacan: Documents Pertaining to the Mint,
1858, 1940-1941 (Typescript, Correspondence, and Original Material)
4
22
Asociacion Numismatica de Mexico,
1948-1949 (Correspondence)
4
23
French Intervention: Maximilian Coinage, 1864-1867,
1949 (Typescript)
4
24
Paper Money of the Mexican Revolution,
1950-1954, 1963- (Typescript and Publications)
4
25
Manuscrito del Capitan Diego Martinez de Hurdaide,
1606, 1910 (Transcription)
4
26
Manuscrito de la Relacion de Saguaripa, 1540-1967,
1965-1969 (Transcriptions, Correspondence, and Typescripts)
4
27
A Summary of Batopilas Native Silver Mines. Their Past Record of Production and Outlook for Future Yield,
1932, Undated (Typescript and Correspondence)
