University of Chicago. Philippine Studies Program

The University of Chicago Philippine Studies Program was established in 1953 with Fred Eggan as Director and Evett D. Hester as Associate Director. The Program was supported by an initial five year grant of $75,000 in March 1953 from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The Carnegie Corporation furnished a terminal grant of $25,000 in December 1957. Funding for specific projects was provided by the Rockefeller Foundation, the Asia Foundation, and the Ford Foundation. After the Program merged with the University of Chicago Committee on Southern Asian Studies in 1959-1960, funds were allocated through the committee and provided by the Non-Western Area Program of the Ford Foundation.

The purpose of the Philippine Studies Program was to help “provide the necessary scientific foundation for an adequate understanding of Philippine society and culture, and ... assess the role played by the United States in its development.” The project coordinated the staff and resources of the University of Chicago, Department of Anthropology, the Newberry Library, and the Field Museum of Natural History (then called the Chicago Natural History Museum). This philosophy of cooperation soon extended to include other American or Philippine universities, museums, and libraries. Cooperation between Chicago institutions included the cataloging and publication of a Calendar of Philippine Documents in the Ayer Collection of the Newberry Library by Paul Lietz, and the installation of the Pacific Research Laboratory at the Field Museum of Natural History completed in 1957-1958 with the guidance of Evett D. Hester.

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