These collection guides represent a summary of the vast majority of Philippine collections curated by the University of Michigan Museum of Anthropological Archaeology (UMMAA). These collection guides were written by Sara Reed and Sophie Wolf in 2022-23, funded by ReConnect/ReCollect: Reparative Connections to Philippine Collections at the University of Michigan (https://www.reconnect-recollect.com/).
Our intent was for these guides to provide initial summaries of these collections that could be findable by community members and researchers, since UMMAA’s collections are not currently available online. Inspired by reparative description efforts by our colleagues in libraries and archives, these guides attempt to include a brief overview of UMMAA’s Philippine collections. These guides include brief contexts in which these materials were collected as well as summary descriptions of the documentation and objects in each collection. We included references to other repositories at the University of Michigan that hold directly related collections, as many of these collections have been split amongst different internal administrative units that are responsible for caring for different types of objects or collections (eg. books, letters, cultural objects, or zoological specimens).
If you have any questions, comments, or corrections, please contact us at: Feedback.UMMAA.Philippines@umich.edu
| Title | Abstract | Collector | Dates |
The Beal-Steere Philippine Collection | U-M Professor Joseph Beal Steere arrived in the Philippines in 1874 on the behalf of the University of Michigan to build up its museum collections. He traveled all over the country, including islands previously not studied by other American ornithologists. The UMMAA’s portion of the Beal-Steere Collection includes weapons, clothing, and human remains. | Joseph Beal Steere | Collected 1874-1875 |
| The Philippine Expedition Collection | Carl E. Guthe was an American Anthropologist and the first director of the University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology. From 1922-1925, Guthe headed the University of Michigan sponsored Philippine Expedition, whose primary directive was the collection of pre-colonial Chinese ceramics. | Expedition led by Carl E. Guthe | Collected 1922-1925 |
| The Morse Collection | American sergeant in the Philippines 1903-1905. The collection includes various ethnographic objects including swords, spears, hats, and daggers. | 1st Sgt. Fred B. Morse and Marie Morse | Collected 1903-1905 |
| The Trap Philippine Collection | William M. Trap, the donor, was head of the Department of Philosophy at Wayne State University and minister at the Christian Reformed Church. John A. Van den Broek, the collector, was a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Michigan. The collection is part of a larger collection of weapons from a variety of locations across the world. | John A. Van den Broek | Collected prior to 1928 |
| The Cole Collection | American teachers in the Philippines, 1901-1903. The collection consists of various ethnographic objects including weapons, textiles, cups, and trays. | Harry Newton Cole and Mary Martha Scott Cole | Collected 1901-1903 |
| The Bartlett Philippine Collection | American professor of botany who visited the Philippines several times between 1935 and 1959. Various ethnographic objects including hats and toys, as well as multiple botanical samples. | Harley Harris Bartlett | Collected 1935-1959 |
| The Cranbrook Institute Collection | Collection of assorted baskets/basketry from the Philippines assembled by the Government of the Philippine Islands Bureau of Education. | Government of the Philippine Islands Bureau of Education | likely collected in 1901 |
| The Edwin C. Goddard Philippine Collection | University of Michigan professor of law. The collection is composed of various ethnographic objects including pipes, combs, and cups. | Edwin C. Goddard | Collected 1900-1910 |
| The Tiffany Bernard Williams Collection | American soldier serving as constabulary in the Philippines, 1914-1917. The collection consists of several spears. | Tiffany Bernard Williams | Collected 1914-1917 |
| The Harry E. Smith Collection | American soldier and hospital administrator in the Philippine-American war and the Spanish-American war. A collection of miscellaneous ethnographic objects obtained during this time. | Harry Ecroyd Smith | Collected 1900-1915 |
| The Scheans Collection | American anthropologist who spent a year in the Philippines on a Fulbright conducting a survey of ceramic earthenware pottery. The collection consists of primarily ceramic sherds, as well as lithics and ethnographic material. | Daniel J. Scheans | Collected late 1960s |
| The Chandler Collection | US Army Major serving in the Spanish-American war. Collection of various ethnographic objects, primarily weapons. | George M. Chandler | Collected 1926-1938 |
| The Horace M. Miner Philippine Collection | Medical doctor and general collector of mostly Native American artifacts from Minneapolis, MN. Collection consists of ethnographic objects including varied weapons, tools, and clothing. | Dr. James F. Corbett | Collected prior to 1955 |
| The Solheim Collection | Excavated material from an American professor of Archaeology. Archaeological material primarily composed of ceramic potsherds. | Wilhelm G. Solheim II | Collected 1952-1953 |
| The Williams Collection | Governor of Michigan, 1949-1960, under-secretary of state for African Affairs from 1961-1965, US ambassador to the Philippines in 1968, Michigan Supreme Court justice from 1970 to 1986. The collection is primarily composed of ceramics found and purchased in the Philippines. | Mennen Williams and Nancy Williams | Collected 1968-1969 |
| The Gardner Collection | American doctor interested in Philippine studies. Collected by Guillermo C. Bacal, Ildefonso Maliwanag, and Eusebio Maliwang from 1939 to 1940. The collection is composed of Hanunóo and Tagbanua bamboo manuscripts from Mindoro Island and Palawan Island. | Fletcher Gardner, Guillermo C. Bacal, Eusebio Maliwanag, Ildefonso Maliwanag | Collected 1939-1940; Accessioned 1966 |
| The Owen A. Tomlinson Collection | Owen Tomlinson served in the U.S. Army and later the Constabulary in the Philippines. He spent the majority of his time in the mountain province of Ifugao. The collection is made up of a variety of textiles and additional ethnographic objects including assorted weapons, utensils, and hats. | Owen A. Tomlinson | Collected 1899-1915 |
| The Hutterer Philippine Collection | Karl L. Hutterer was an American Anthropologist at the University of Michigan. The collection includes a large number of ethnobotanical samples, and a small number of ethnographic objects. | Collected by Karl L. Hutterer; William Parry; and Junona Jumalon | Collected 1971 & 1979 |
