Special Collections
Research Center
Over 2,100 digitized photographs from the SCRC can be found in The Philippine Photographs Digital Archive.
In general, the images in this archive depict Filipinos, buildings, homes, and monuments in and around Manila; Filipino political and military leaders, members of American commissions and military units based in the Philippines; and numerous landscape scenes, particularly of Mindanao and in Lanao Province. The Digital Archive consists of the following digitized collections:
Lantern slide of a stilt house, ca. 1900-1935 (record 1866). From the Manila, Philippines, and Environs collection, Special Collections Research Center. University of Michigan Digital Collections.
From the Tiffany Bernard Williams Papers (University of Michigan Library, Special Collections Research Center).
- Dean C. Worcester (1866-1924) Photographs of the Philippine Islands
- Parker Hitt Photograph Collection
- Manila, Philippines Collection
- Manila, Philippines, and Environs (slides and photographs)
- Scenes of Philippine History (slides)
- General John J. Pershing Photograph Collection
- Everett E. Thompson Photograph Collection
- Tiffany Williams Photograph Collection
In addition to these digitized collections, historical photographs are included in various Philippine collections at SCRC and can be accessed on-site. Some examples:
The Philippine-American War in Leyte and Samar Collection
The Philippine-American War in Leyte and Samar Collection includes photographs taken in the Philippines before and during the Philippine-American War.
The Wedding Photo of General and Mrs. Emilio Aguinaldo
The Wedding Photo of General and Mrs. Emilio Aguinaldo includes an original inscription and signature of Emilio Aguinaldo, Filipino revolutionary leader and politician.
Philippine Boys doing calisthenics outdoors (record HS15914). From the Walter W. Marquardt papers, box 2, Bentley Historical Library. University of Michigan Library Digital Collections.
The Bentley Historical Library
The Bentley Image Bank presents a selection of digital images scanned from the Library’s diverse collections, including some digitized photographs from Philippine collections.
In addition, visual materials are included in collections that can be accessed on-site. Some examples:
The Carl Eugen Guthe Papers: 1905-1974
The Carl Eugen Guthe Papers: 1905-1974 include visual documentation of the landscape, people, customs and artifacts researched during the U-M Philippine expedition (1923-1925).
The Dean C. Worcester Papers: 1887-1925
The Dean C. Worcester Papers: 1887-1925 photograph series includes images documenting Philippine life and culture, many of which were used in Worcester’s book The Philippines, Past and Present.
The Richard Schneidewind Papers: 1899-191
The Richard Schneidewind Papers: 1899-1914 include photographs of the “Igorot Villages” traveling exhibits in the U.S., Canada and Europe that his company, the Filipino Exhibition Company, organized and managed between 1905 and 1913.
The John C. Early Papers: 1911-1942
The John C. Early Papers: 1911-1942 include photos of the Philippine countryside, cities, and people, especially views of the Mountain Province.
The Frank C. Gates Papers: 1871-2000
The Frank C. Gates Papers: 1871-2000 include photographs, photographic negatives, photograph albums, and lantern slides of the Philippine Islands during Gates’ time as professor of botany at the University of the Philippines (1912-1915). These primarily depict local customs, general travel views of people and places, and vegetation.
Museum of Anthropological Archaeology
From 1890 until 1913, Dean Conant Worcester (1866-1924) took thousands of photographs of people and places throughout the Philippines.
The Museum of Anthropology contains more than 5,000 of Worcester’s original glass plate negatives and lantern slides, some of which are featured in the Dean C. Worcester Photograph Collection at the University of Michigan Museum of Anthropology exhibit. Others must be accessed on-site.
UMMA 05A010. One of the Worcester photographs, captioned by himself: “Blas Villamor, Bakidan, Saking, and two other brothers of Bakidan, and myself. There are six brothers in this family and they rule the upper Nabuagan river valley. Bakidan is the most powerful. Kalingan of Bunuan, Cagayan, 1905.”