Finding Aid to the Abraham Phineas Nasatir Document Collection, circa 1673-1859, 1925-1971, bulk 1768-1827

Finding Aid written by Anastasia Karel
Funding for processing this collection was provided by National Historical Publications and Records Commmission
The Bancroft Library
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, California, 94720-6000
Phone: (510) 642-6481
Fax: (510) 642-7589
Email: bancref@library.berkeley.edu
URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/
© 2007
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.

Finding Aid to the Abraham Phineas Nasatir Document Collection, circa 1673-1859, 1925-1971, bulk 1768-1827

Collection Number: BANC MSS 92/50

The Bancroft Library



University of California, Berkeley

Berkeley, California Funding for processing this collection was provided by National Historical Publications and Records Commmission
Finding Aid Written By:
Anastasia Karel
Date Completed:
March 2009
© 2009 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.

Collection Summary

Collection Title: Abraham Phineas Nasatir document collection.
Date (inclusive): circa 1673-1859,
Date (inclusive): 1925-1971,
Date (bulk): bulk 1768-1827
Collection Number: BANC MSS 92/50
Creators : Nasatir, Abraham Phineas, 1904-1991
Extent: Number of containers: 14 cartons, 14 folders Linear feet: 14.67 linear feet
Repository: The Bancroft Library
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, California, 94720-6000
Phone: (510) 642-6481
Fax: (510) 642-7589
Email: bancref@library.berkeley.edu
URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/
Abstract: The Abraham Phineas Nasatir document collection consists of research materials from Spanish and American archives that were copied and annotated by Nasatir over the course of his career.
Languages Represented: Collection materials are in English, Spanish and French
Physical Location: Many of the Bancroft Library collections are stored offsite and advance notice may be required for use. For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.

Information for Researchers

Access

Collection is open for research.

Publication Rights

All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Head of Public Services, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 94720-6000. Consent is given on behalf of The Bancroft Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission from the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright owner. See: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html. 
Restrictions also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Use of digital files is restricted to research and educational purposes.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Abraham Phineas Nasatir Document Collection, BANC MSS 92/50, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

Alternate Forms Available

There are no alternate forms of this collection.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Archivo General de Indias
Historians--California
Osage Indians--History
Spain--Colonies--America
Missouri River Valley--History--Sources

Administrative Information

Acquisition Information

The Abraham Phineas Nasatir Document Collection was given to The Bancroft Library by Ida Hirsch Nasatir in 1991.

Accruals

No additions are expected.

System of Arrangement

Arranged to the folder level.

Processing Information

Processed by Anastasia Karel and Rachel Gulbraa in 2009.

Biographical Information

Abraham Phineas Nasatir was born in Santa Ana, CA, on November 24, 1904. His parents were Lithuanian Orthodox Jewish immigrants, and his father instilled in him an early dedication towards scholarship, both religious and academic. This led Nasatir to graduate from high school at age fourteen, and he received his bachelor's degree from Berkeley in 1921 when he was barely seventeen years old. A year later he completed his master's thesis and quickly pursued his doctorate in history. His mentor, Herbert Eugene Bolton, tried to slow Nasatir down by employing him as a teaching assistant from 1923-1924. The following year Nasatir went to France and Spain on a Native Sons of the Golden West traveling fellowship, and in 1926 earned his Ph.D.
He spent the majority of his career on the faculty at San Diego State University, and in addition to teaching he published scores of articles and seventeen books or monographs. Unfortunately, on June 30, 1985, the largest residential fire to hit San Diego to that date claimed a large portion of Nasatir's life work - nearly 500,000 documents (copies and translations) and 2,500 books. His greatest regret was that no more than thirty percent of these materials had been utilized, and he had intended to donate the entire collection to the Bancroft Library. In spite of this setback, Nasatir continued to work and publish until his death on January 18, 1991.

Scope and Content of Collection

The documents in this collection represent only a fraction of the several hundred thousand that Nasatir acquired over the course of his career. These materials were located in his office at San Diego State University, and were thus protected from the house fire that destroyed the rest of his collection. There are no original documents here; the typical material found for each document includes two transcripts of the original (mss. and ts.), and several translations. His filing system was primarily by date and was largely preserved here. However, there is very little information on what the documents were used for, and no personal or other professional papers.

 

Series 1 Research Materials 1673-1971

Physical Description: 14.67 linear feet (14 cartons, 14 folders)

Scope and Content Note

This series is divided into three subseries based on Nasatir's published and unpublished work. All of his research materials were likely used for multiple works, and the documents were organized by following his original order, which may not represent how he used them.
 

SubSeries 1.1 Before Lewis and Clark 1774-1827

Physical Description: 7.90 linear feet (7 cartons, 20 folders)

Arrangement

Chronological

Scope and Content Note

The documents in this subseries were matched against documents that appeared in the volumes Before Lewis and Clark, and include discards. Most documents include several copies of transcriptions and translations, both in manuscript and typescript form, and information about each document is on a piece of paper stapled to one of the copies.
Carton 1, Folder 1

1774

Carton 1, Folder 2

1775

Carton 1, Folder 3

1775-1776

Carton 1, Folder 4-6

1777

Carton 1, Folder 7

1778

Carton 1, Folder 8

1778-1779

Carton 1, Folder 9-10

1780

Carton 1, Folder 11-12

1781

Carton 1, Folder 13

1782-1783

Carton 1, Folder 14-15

1783

Carton 1, Folder 16-17

1784

Carton 1, Folder 18-19

1785

Carton 2, Folder 1-2

1786

Carton 2, Folder 3-6

1787

Carton 2, Folder 7-9

1788

Carton 2, Folder 10-11

1789

Carton 2, Folder 12-14

1790

Carton 2, Folder 15-17

1791

Carton 3, Folder 1-6

1792

Carton 3, Folder 7-13

1793

Carton 3, Folder 14-16

1794

Carton 4, Folder 1-9

1794

Carton 4, Folder 10-16

1795

Carton 5, Folder 1-3

1795

Carton 5, Folder 4-19

1796

Carton 6, Folder 1

Circa 1796

Carton 6, Folder 2-12

1797

Carton 6, Folder 13-20

1798

Carton 7, Folder 1-4

1799

Carton 7, Folder 5-9

1800

Carton 7, Folder 10-15

1801

Carton 7, Folder 16-18

1802

Carton 8, Folder 1-4

1802

Carton 8, Folder 5-7

1803

Carton 8, Folder 8-11

1804

Carton 8, Folder 12-14

1805

Carton 8, Folder 15

1806

Carton 8, Folder 16

1807

Carton 8, Folder 17

1808

Carton 8, Folder 18

1809

Carton 8, Folder 19

1810

Carton 8, Folder 20

1811-1827

 

SubSeries 1.2 Osage documents 1768-1827

Physical Description: 1.10 linear feet (1 carton, two folders)

Scope and Content Note

The documents in this subseries appeared to be organized into chapters for a work on the Osage Indian tribe that Nasatir did not publish in its original form. The materials were likely used by Nasatir and Gilbert C. Din for their work The Imperial Osages, published in 1983.
Carton 8, Folder 21-22

Original chapter III Circa 1771-1779

Carton 9, Folder 1

Chapter III 1768-1789

Carton 9, Folder 2

Chapters III and IV 1786-1789

Carton 9, Folder 3

Chapter IV 1780-1786

Carton 9, Folder 4-5

Chapter V 1790-1794

Carton 9, Folder 6-8

Chapter VI 1794-1796

Carton 9, Folder 9

Chapters VII and VIII 1803-1805

Carton 9, Folder 10

Letters to/from Riu; Piernas Circa 1760s-1770s

Carton 9, Folder 11-12

Select excerpts from books Circa 1797-1810

Carton 9, Folder 13-16

Transcriptions 1800-1827

Carton 9, Folder 17-19

General 1764-1779

 

SubSeries 1.3 Other 1673-1850s; 1930-1971, undated

Physical Description: 5.67 linear feet (5 cartons, 14 folders)

Scope and Content Note

This subseries consists of documents that Nasatir used in his research and writing. They are primarily from the Archivo General de Indias, Papeles de Cuba, but also include American archives and libraries. There is one folder of correspondence at the end.
 

AGI - Papeles de Cuba 1765-1814, undated

Carton 10, Folder 1-2

Legajo 81 1770-1776

Carton 10, Folder 3

Legajo 82 1767-1771

Carton 10, Folder 4

Legajo 107 1770-1775

Carton 10, Folder 5-10

Legajo 109 1765-1768, undated

Carton 10, Folder 11

Legajo 110 1769-1771, undated

Carton 10, Folder 12

Legajo 111 1772-1775, undated

Carton 10, Folder 13

Legajos 117A-B, 118, 119 1784-1788

Carton 10, Folder 14-16

Legajo 170A 1767-1768

Carton 10, Folder 17

Legajo 187 1766-1769

Carton 10, Folder 18

Legajo 188A, B, C 1770-1771

Carton 10, Folder 19

Legajo 189A 1772-1774

Carton 10, Folder 20

Legajo 210 1794-1796

Carton 10, Folder 21

Legajo 216A-B 1796-1799

Carton 10, Folder 22

Legajo 219 1770-1802

Carton 10, Folder 23-24

Legajo 2357 1765-1774

Carton 10, Folder 24a

Legajo 2365 1797

Carton 10, Folder 25

Select legajos, 3-181 1771-1797

Carton 10, Folder 26

Select legajos, 178B-212 1769-1798

Carton 10, Folder 27

Select legajos, 213-2533 1766-1793

Note

no. 2533 is from Santo Domingo series
Carton 10, Folder 28

Unsorted legajos 1769, 1797, 1814, undated

Carton 10, Folder 29

AGI - Audiencia de Santo Domingo, legajo 2542 1768

Carton 11, Folder 1-5

Various legajos 1788-1807, undated

Carton 11, Folder 6-9

Chouteau notes and translations 1800s

Carton 11, Folder 10

Court House papers 1820s-1850s

Note

St. Louis; transcripts and notes re: Chouteau; copied for Nasatir in 1925
Carton 11, Folder 11-12

Letterbooks of Francisco Vallé 1791-1801

Carton 11, Folder 13-18

Missouri Historical Society 1800s

Carton 11, Folder 19

Morfi's History of Texas undated

Note

notes
Carton 11, Folder 20-21

New-York Historical Society 1800s

 

Notes 1817-1840s

Carton 11, Folder 22

Wisconsin mss; Indians 1817-1840s

Carton 12, Folder 1-3

Various sources 1778-1850s

 

Legajos and other documents 1673-1827

Arrangement

chronological
Carton 12, Folder 4

1673-1767

Carton 12, Folder 5

1709-1752

Carton 12, Folder 6

1756-1758

Carton 12, Folder 7

1763-1766

Carton 12, Folder 8

1763-1792

Carton 12, Folder 9-10

1767

Carton 12, Folder 11-13

1768

Carton 12, Folder 14-15

1769

Carton 12, Folder 16-20

1770

Carton 12, Folder 21

Circa 1770-1779

Carton 12, Folder 22-23

1771

Carton 13, Folder 1-3

1772

Carton 13, Folder 4-6

1773

Carton 13, Folder 7

1780-1787

Carton 13, Folder 8

1789

Carton 13, Folder 9

1790-1791

Carton 13, Folder 10

1791-1798

Carton 13, Folder 11

1792

Carton 13, Folder 12

1792-1802

Carton 13, Folder 13-17

1793

Carton 13, Folder 18-19

1793-1795

Carton 13, Folder 20

1793-1797

Carton 13, Folder 21

1794

Carton 14, Folder 1-8

1794

Carton 14, Folder 9

1794-1799

Carton 14, Folder 10-18

1795

Carton 14, Folder 19

1795-1799

Carton 14, Folder 20

1795-1800

Carton 14, Folder 21-22

1796

Carton 15, Folder 1-3

1796

Carton 15, Folder 4-5

1797

Carton 15, Folder 6

1797-1804

Carton 15, Folder 7-8

1798

Carton 15, Folder 9

1799-1800

Carton 15, Folder 10

1802

Carton 15, Folder 11

1803-1827

Carton 15, Folder 12

Undated

Carton 15, Folder 13

Correspondence 1930-1953, undated

Note

four letters; includes transcripts of Delassus and Lavallee's inventories from March 1804
Carton 15, Folder 14

Pedro Vial document 1804; 1971

Note

includes letter from John Francis McDermott, translation, transcription, and photocopy of document dated November 23, 1804