Guide to the Edward Bowditch Papers,
[ca. 1907-1957]

Collection Number: 4292

Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections
Cornell University Library

Contact Information:
Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections
2B Carl A. Kroch Library
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853
(607) 255-3530
Fax: (607) 255-9524
rareref@cornell.edu
http://rmc.library.cornell.edu
Compiled by:
E. Engst
Date completed:
June 1987
EAD encoding:
Martin Heggestad, May 2003

© 2002 Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library

DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY

Title:
Edward Bowditch papers, [ca. 1907-1957]
Collection Number:
4292
Creator:
Edward Bowditch, 1881-
Quantity:
1.7 cubic ft.
Forms of Material:
Typescripts, manuscripts, printed pamphlets, letters and memos, photographs, negatives, and photograph albums.
Repository:
Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library
Abstract:
Bound volumes include typescripts, manuscripts, printed pamphlets, letters and memos on various aspects of Philippine history and life. Specific volumes concern irrigation; copies of responses to a survey of tribes in the Department of Mindanao; and correspondence between Bowditch and W. Cameron Forbes, with biographical information about Americans who served in the Philippines. Also five photograph albums, mostly identified, of people and places in the Philippines; loose photographs of the Philippines; and negatives.
Language:
Collection material in English

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

After receiving a law degree from Harvard University, Edward (Peter) Bowditch came to the Philippines in 1907 and became Secretary to the Governor General, and Secretary and Vice Governor of Moro Province, a position he held until 1914 when it was transferred from military to civil control. Bowditch then served with the first civil governor of Moro Province for a period of six months. During World War I, he served in France, becoming personal A.D.C. to General Pershing. He was a member of the Harbord Mission to Armenia in 1919, served as an officer in the 5th and 12th Cavalry regiments, and returned to the Philippines as a member of the Wood-Forbes Mission in 1921.
COLLECTION DESCRIPTION

Bound volumes include typescripts, manuscripts, printed pamphlets, letters and memos on various aspects of Philippine history and life. Specific volumes concern irrigation; copies of responses to a survey of tribes in the Department of Mindanao; and correspondence between Bowditch and W. Cameron Forbes, with biographical information about Americans who served in the Philippines. Also five photograph albums, mostly identified, of people and places in the Philippines; loose photographs of the Philippines; and negatives.
SUBJECTS

Names:
Bowditch, Edward, 1881-
Forbes, W. Cameron (William Cameron), 1870-1959.

Subjects:
Irrigation--Philippines.

Places:
Philippines--Civilization--American influences.
Philippines--Pictorial works.
Philippines--History--1898-1946.
Philippines--Politics and government--1898-1935.
Mindanao Island (Philippines)
INFORMATION FOR USERS

Cite As:
Edward Bowditch papers, #4292. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.
CONTAINER LIST

Description
Container
Bound volume of reports, notes, etc. on irrigation, compiled ca. 1908
Box 1 Vol. 1
Copy of responses to a survey of tribes in the Dept. of Minanao
Box 1 Vol. 2
Subjects include original and natural phenomena; government; laws; marriage and divorce; prostitution, abortion, and infanticide; funeral rites; religion; superstitions; slavery, education; warfare; the chase and fishing; manners and customs; dress; games; music and dancing; commerce; self mutilation of the body; uses of medicine and methods produced in childbirth; folklore and tradition; history; and language
Mindaneo papers - Spanish and Army - typescripts of various reports, compiled 1914
Box 1 Vol. 3
The Brethren - sequel to the Apostles - 1956-1957
Box 1 Vol. 7
Correspondence of Bowditch and W. Cameron Forbes concerning people who were involved in the government of the Philippines; includes biographical information on the staff
Box 1 Vol. 7
Lists of words and expressions in Moro, and additional survey reports on Moros and other tribes on Minanao (see Vol. 2)
Box 2 Vol. 4
Includes "Special Banquet Number" of the Merchants' Association Review, 1911; typescript message of the Governor General to the Second Philippine Legislature, 1911; Address to the Merchants' Association, 1911; various press releases relating to conditions in the Philippines; memos and reports about the economic and agricultural conditions, 1908, 1913; report from the Court of Land Registration relating to simplification of land titles; reports on "The New Mentality of the Filipino" and on "Modern Japan"; and published "Diary of a Journey Among the Lois of Hainan, Feb. and Mar. 1910," by J. de L. Simonds. Also, loose clippings; letters about a testimonial to Forbes, 1930; and a 1961 letter to Bowditch with an excerpt from a diary entry by Forbes
Box 2 Vol. 5
Report by the Nationalist Party of the Secretary of War; correspondence about a child support case, 1909; trial transcript and report relating to Mariano Noriel, Philippine insurgent; report on the Philippine constitution, 1910; typescript translation of newspaper reports on the deportation of Chinese, 1909; and speech on the inauguration of Governor Carpenter, the first civil governor of Mindanao, 1914
Box 2 Vol. 6
Loose photographs of the Philippines, unidentified
 Box 2 Vol. 6
List of photos from a trip north of Luzon, 1911
Box 2 Vol. 6
Photograph album, Philippines, 1907-1909, identified
Box 3
Photograph album, Philippines, 1908-1909, identified
Box 4
Photograph album, Philippines, some commercial views, 1914-1915
Box 5
Photograph album, Philippines, n.d., unidentified
Box 5
Photograph album, Philippines, ca. 1913, identified
Box 5
Negatives (nitrate)
 Box 6