Magellan’s abortive attempts to introduce baptism among the natives of the island of Cebu during the month of April of 1521 and the more successful efforts of the Spanish missionaries to preach the Gospel following the arrival of the Legazpi-Urdaneta expedition at Cebu on February 13, 1565 occurred during the initial and the culminating chapters respectively of the “spiritual conquest” of those native peoples of America and the Far East who were to enter the orbit of Spanish culture. During April of 1521, as Magellan was transforming himself into a lay missionary, Hernán Cortés was making the final preparations for the siege of Tenochtitlán. Its successful issue on August 13, 1521 laid the foundation not only of the Spanish Empire in the New World, but also it provided the Spaniards with the base of operations from which eventually they could extend their power to the Philippines. It was Cortés’ conquest of the Aztec Confederation in 1521 which enabled the Catholic missionaries of Spain to undertake one of the most extensive expansions in the history of the Christian Church. In 1565 the Spanish Church for its Philippine enterprise was able to draw upon a vast storehouse of missionary experience acquired in both North and South America. Magellan’s apostolic labors, ill-starred and brief though they were, exemplify many of the permanent features of the Spanish missionary enterprise. The Magellan episode also illustrates how his successors after 1565 did in fact profit from the Circumnavigator’s errors of judgment and tactics.

The island of Trinidad was discovered by Columbus on the third voyage in 1498. One of the largest and most fertile of the West Indian islands, for many years it remained on the fringe of European activity in the Caribbean area and on the coasts of Venezuela and Guiana. A Spanish settlement was founded there in 1532, but apparently it disintegrated within a short time. Toward the end of the sixteenth century Berrio and Raleigh fought for possession of the island, but chiefly as a convenient base for their rival search for El Dorado, or Manoa, the Golden Man and the mythical city of gold. Throughout the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries explorers, corsairs, and contraband traders, Spanish, French, English, and Dutch, passed near its shores, and many of them may well have paused there to refresh themselves and to make necessary repairs to their vessels. But the records are scanty and we know little of such events or of the settlements that existed from time to time.

The evangelization of the Chilean natives, which was always a motive of special interest to the kings of Spain, received new impetus in the last years of the Austrian dynasty. By the royal decree of May 11, 1697, Charles II ordained the formation of a council for the missions of Chile and the establishment of a college in that country to educate the sons of the caciques of Arauco. Don Tomás Marín de Poveda, the governor, had the responsibility of putting into execution the commands of the monarch. He established the council and from its meetings resulted the foundation in Chilian of a college for natives.

This survey of Latin American archivology is for the year 1954, together with some information regarding 1953, which was not included in “Latin American Archivology, 1951–1953” (see below).

The outstanding feature of this period is the attention which is being given throughout Latin America to the improvement of the housing of the archives, which has been a great problem for many years. During 1954 Ecuador and the Dominican Republic dedicated and occupied new buildings especially constructed for their archives, which embody all features necessary for adequate services. In Guatemala construction of a new building was continued. Projects and plans for appropriate buildings were considered in Haiti and Mexico. Extensive remodeling and improvements were effected in Brazil and Paraguay. These activities have served to place the archives in a much better position to carry on the tasks appropriate to these important cultural centers.

Consideration was also given to equipping the new buildings as well as some of the old ones with photographic laboratories, including microfilm and photostat, and with equipment for lamination and binding. Some concrete results were accomplished in these matters, but mostly it was projects under consideration, awaiting funds for the execution.