[Aztlan] T.A.Willard foto archive and Memorial Collection

[Ruth Gubler]

Following up on this topic:
While living in L.A., I  had numerous occasions to visit the Southwest 
Museum and became fascinated with Willard the man-inventor-amateur 
archaeologist-collector, and his collection.  As you note, there are many 
interesting items there, and not necessarily all having to do with 
archaeology. As you certainly know, he also published a number of books on 
his experiences in Yucatan and his interactions with many of his peers.

Very much at the beginning, when the museum was not what it is today 
(remodeled and modernized),  I "discovered" very much tucked away, and only 
after much searching the "Cocom papers".  This is a a very interesting set 
of manuscripts having to do with the underestimated (vs. the Xiu) lineage, 
and  about which  I published a paper in Indiana 17/18 2000/2001).

I also wrote a short article on Willard and his collection for Masterkey 
(spring 1987).  At some point Hasso von Winning published on the Temple of 
the Owls.
Cordially, Ruth Gubler
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Keith Dixon" <kdixon at csulb.edu>
To: <aztlan at lists.famsi.org>
Sent: Saturday, March 07, 2009 9:27 PM
Subject: [Aztlan] T.A.Willard foto archive and Memorial Collection


> Greetings, listeros.
>         Willard's photo archive is (at least was) in the
> Southwest Museum, Los Angeles.  The T.A. Willard Memorial
> Collection consists of 7,642 items donated by his widow in
> 1943.  There are about 2,100 negatives, 4,800 foto prints,
> and drawings.  They cover Chichén Itzá and some of the
> other main Maya sites.  There are some artifacts in the
> collection, including gold artifacts (apparently not
> authenticated), supposedly from the "Sacred Well" at
> Chichén Itzá.  The collection is described in detail in an
> article by Frances E. Watkins, "Shadows of the Past," in
> the museum's journal The Masterkey, vol. 18, no. 1, 1944.
>         It might be a good idea for someone to review all
> this material from a current perspective, and perhaps ask
> permission to scan and photograph parts of it to make them
> available online.
>         -- Keith A. Dixon
> -----------------------
> From:  "carpetas" <carpetas at sbcglobal.net>
> Sender: aztlan-bounces at lists.famsi.org
> Subject: [Aztlan] Willard
> Date: Wed, 4 Mar 2009 18:03:17 -0600
> To: <Aztlan at lists.famsi.org>
>
> Does anyone have any ideas where T A Willards' photo
> archive of Chichen Itza is located? Jim Carpetas
>
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