Henry Otley Beyer
Henry Otley Beyer (1883–1966), also known as “the father of Philippine anthropology,” was born in Edgewood, Iowa, U.S.A. His interest in the Philippines was spurned from his experiences at the Philippine exposition at the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904. With bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Chemistry, Beyer took a job with the Ethnological Survey Office, Philippine Civil Service, in July 1905. The office was redirected to the Bureau of Education headed by David P. Barrows. Barrows commissioned Beyer to study the Ifugaos of Banaue in Northern Luzon until 1908.
After short anthropological projects in Asia, North Africa and Europe, and advanced graduate studies at Harvard University, Beyer returned to the Philippines as the appointed ethnologist in the Bureau of Science of the colonial U.S. government from 1910 to 1914. During this time, he studied the Ifugaos, Igorots, Apayaos, Kalingas, and the Christian peoples of Ilocos, Pangasinan, and Pampanga. He also had some curatorial responsibility for the Philippine Museum.
In 1914, Beyer was appointed as chair to the newly created department of anthropology at the University of the Philippines. Beyer taught at the University of the Philippines from 1914 until his retirement in 1947. He became Professor Emeritus and was for years Curator of the University's Museum and Institute of Ethnology and Archaeology which he founded.
Beyer was also a scholar in Philippine folklore, customary law, archaeology, art and geology. Among his many publications were the Philippine Ethnographic Series (141 vols, 1912–22), Philippine Tektites (1933–34) and Philippine Folktales,Beliefs, Popular Customs and Traditions (3 vols, 1941–43). Due to his work, an H. Otley Beyer Symposium was held at the University of the Philippines in 1965, and Studies in Philippine Anthropology in Honor of H. Otley Beyer was published in 1967. Beyer received honorary degrees from the University of the Philippines, Siliman and Ateneo de Manila.
The National Library of Australia purchased his personal library and collection in 1972 from his son, William Beyer.
Sources:
National Library of Australia. “The Beyer Collection.” Accessed September 27, 2013. http://www.nla.gov.au/selected-library-collections/otley-beyer-collection
The Kahimyang Project. “Today in Philippine History July 13, 1883, Henry Otley Beyer was born in Edgewood, Iowa.” Last updated 2013., http://kahimyang.info/kauswagan/articles/1232/today-in-philippine-history-july-13-1883-henry-otley-beyer-was-born-in-edgewood-iowa
Scope Note
This small collection has six manuscripts that cover the General Philippines, Ilokano, Pangasinan, Ibanag and Pampanga. These manuscripts have pen and pencil notes and markings in the margins and in the text and may be copies of originals found in the Beyer Collection of the National Library of Australia. Here is an excerpt about the manuscripts in the Beyer Collection:
“At the core of the Otley Beyer Collection are 195 volumes of typescripts compiled by Beyer and his associates, mostly in the period 1912–30, on the ethnography of the Philippines. They provide a valuable record of Philippine life in the early twentieth century, before US influences became pervasive. The most substantial series are Bisaya ethnography, the Ifugao people, Ilokos ethnography, Moro ethnography, Philippine customary law and Tagalog ethnography. There are also volumes on archaeological surveys in Rizal Province and Philippine tektites.”
--National Library of Australia, http://www.nla.gov.au/selected-library-collections/otley-beyer-collection
Beyer Holleman Papers (Box 1 of 1)
Date: Unknown
Size: .625 linear feet (1 box)
Repository: University of Hawai’i Hamilton Library Asia Collection- Closed shelves
Abstract: Copies of six manuscripts from the Beyer Holleman Series (Beyer Collection) of the National Library of Australia. They cover the General Philippines, Ilokano, Pangasinan, Ibanag and Pampanga. These copies contains correction marks in pen and pencil.
The following are originally from the Beyer Holleman Papers, part of the University of Chicago Philippine Studies Program Records 1930-1979. The National Library of Australia has the Beyer Collection, a collection of works and items previously belonging to Otley Beyer, an ethnologist who worked in the Philippines since U.S. occupation. The original manuscripts are from this collection. http://www.nla.gov.au/selected-library-collections/otley-beyer-collectionThe items below, however, are not included in the Finding Aid:Guide to the University of Chicago Philippine Studies Program Records 1930-1979, Series IV: Project Files, Subseries 2 Philippines, Sub-subseries 7: Ethnographyhttp://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/scrc/findingaids/view.php?eadid=ICU.SPCL.UOFCPSP&q=Beyer+Holleman+Papers
Title of Folder Paper Nos.
Index to Beyer Holleman Papers (copy 2) n/a
Beyer Holleman Papers: General Philippines 143, 184, 218
Beyer Holleman Papers: Ilokano 3, 78-82, 84-100, 108, 110, 111, 130, 134, 212-215, 238
Beyer Holleman Papers: Pangasinan 3, 65-77, 132, 133, 143, 211
Beyer holleman Papers: Ibanag 3, 140, 141, 143, 144, 216 (notes only)
Beyer Holleman Papers: Pampanga 3, 61-64, 106, 128-131, 143, 209, 210
