Welcome to Minerva,
the online descriptive catalog for the
California State Archives!

The California State Archives is a treasure house of historical documents. Within its walls can be found records relating to the State's first constitutional convention in 1849, land grant records of the Spanish and Mexican eras, campaign contribution statements, legislative committee files, original laws, and personal papers of many of the state's leading politicians. These are just a few examples of the types of records to be found among the more than 232 million documents that are preserved in the California State Archives.

Minerva is a free service that gives people access to descriptive records which detail the Archives' ever-growing collection. The cataloging of these vast holdings is not yet completed, so if you cannot find what you are looking for, please contact the Archives Reference desk at (916) 653-2246 or via e-mail at ArchivesWeb@sos.ca.gov. The Archives will update the catalog regularly and it will eventually include descriptions of all holdings.

If you are looking for archival records of state agencies, legislative committees, the state Supreme and appellate courts, or members of the Assembly and the Senate -- ask Minerva!