Schneidewind, Richard

Native and resident of Detroit, Mich. and veteran of the Spanish-American War (1898). Between 1905 and 1913 he organized three "Igorot village" exhibits at fairs and expositions across the U.S. and Canada, and a tour of Europe.

From the description of Richard Schneidewind papers, 1899-1949. (University of Michigan). WorldCat record id: 758899084

Richard Schneidewind was a native and resident of Detroit, Mich. and veteran of the Spanish-American War (1898). Schneidewind joined the U.S. Army in 1898 as a nurse in the Field Hospital Corps. In the Philippines he was made the head nurse and treated men ill with typhoid and spinal meningitis. After contracting typhoid and not completely recovered, he was sent to Corregidor Island where his unit was building a convalescent hospital. Still a patient, Schneidewind was given light duties. He remained on the sick list until his discharge from the service in July 1899.

After his discharge Schneidewind stayed in the Philippines and married Gabina Dionicio R. y Gabriel in 1900. Gabina died in 1901 giving birth to their son Richard, who later became Professor of Metallurgical Engineering at the University of Michigan.

After Gabina's death Schneidewind returned to the U.S. In 1904 he worked at the St. Louis World's Fair where, among similar exhibits, he saw the "Igorot Village" exhibit that included 123 Igorots brought by the Dr. Truman K. Hunt's Igorot Exhibit Company.

By 1905 Schneidewind with his partner Edmund A. Felder formed the Filipino Exhibition Company. Schneidewind met Felder in 1904 when Felder was the Executive Officer of the Philippine Exposition Board at the St. Louis World's Fair. In 1905 they arranged a group of Igorot men and women from the Luzon mountain interior to be brought for a tour.

In 1906 Schneidewind married Selma Echholz. In 1907 he brought to the U.S. 40 Igorot people; 40 people in 1908; and in 1911 his company brought 55 people on a tour of Europe (France, England, and Belgium). Some people went on more than one journey.

Toward the end of the 1911 European tour the Schneidewind's company experienced serious financial problems. In winter 1913 American newspapers reported about starving Igorots wandering the streets of Ghent, Belgium. The U.S. government intervened, and in December 1913 the newspapers reported that all of the Igorots were sent back to the Philippines. In 1914 U.S. government put an end to exhibitions of Filipinos.

In 1915 Schneidewind managed exhibits of people from Samoa at fairs in California. In the 1920s Schneidewind settled in Detroit. He died in January 1949.

From the guide to the Richard Schneidewind papers, 1899-1914, (Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan)