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Willard (T. A. [Theodore Arthur]) Collection
MS.234  
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Conditions Governing Access
  • Acquisition
  • Related Archival Materials
  • Preferred Citation
  • Scope and Contents
  • Biographical Note
  • Processing History
  • Conditions Governing Use

  • Contributing Institution: Library and Archives at the Autry
    Title: T. A. (Theodore Arthur) Willard Collection
    Creator: Willard, T. A. (Theodore Arthur)
    Creator: Martínez Hernández, Juan
    Identifier/Call Number: MS.234
    Physical Description: 7 Linear Feet (8 boxes; 1 oversized folder)
    Date (inclusive): circa 1756-1938
    Abstract: T. A. (Theodore Arthur) Willard (1862-1943) was an inventor, musician, and amateur archaeologist. Willard published several books on ancient Mayan culture in the 1930s. This collection of papers dating from 1756-1938 and regarding Mayan languages, Chichen Itza, and the Cocom family include correspondence and manuscripts by and to T. A. Willard, correspondence and papers collected by T. A. Willard, original artworks by and collected by T. A. Willard, and photographic negatives and positives from his 30 journeys to Mexico and Central America.
    Language of Material: English , Mayan languages , Spanish; Castilian .

    Conditions Governing Access

    Appointments to view materials are required. To make an appointment please visit https://theautry.org/research-collections/library-and-archives  and fill out the Researcher Application Form.

    Acquisition

    Donation in memory of Theodore A. Willard by his wife Florence V. Willard, 1943 May 21.

    Related Archival Materials

    Edna Robb Webster Papers, 1906-1979, Braun Research Library Collection, Autry Museum of the American West, Los Angeles; MS.237.

    Preferred Citation

    T. A. (Theodore Arthur) Willard Collection, 1756-1938, Braun Research Library Collection, Autry Museum of the American West, Los Angeles; MSA.234; [folder number] [folder title][date].

    Scope and Contents

    This collection of papers includes correspondence and manuscripts by and to T. A. Willard, correspondence and papers collected by T. A. Willard, original artworks by and collected by T. A. Willard, and photographic negatives and positives from his 30 journeys to Mexico and Central America. Documents are often undated, but dated materials are from 1756 to 1938. Materials in this collection refer mostly to the Mayan languages, Chichen Itza, and the Cocom family.
    Papers include codices for translation between English, Mayan languages, and Spanish; correspondence; manuscripts; notes; pamphlets, and reports. Authors and correspondents other than Willard include Edward Thompson Case, Oliver Drake, Juan Martinez-Hernandez, Don Juan Pio Perez, Henry R. Wagner, Marjorie Ellen Webster, and Florence V. Willard.
    Artworks in this collection include photographs that have been worked into with inks and paints, original sketches in ink, and paintings. Some of these artworks were used in Willard publications The City of the Sacred Well (1926), Bride of the Rain God: Princess of Chichen-Itza, the Sacred City of the Mayas (1930), and Kukulkan, the Bearded Conqueror (1941).
    Photographs portray the Palace of Kukulkan, the Uxmal Stela of Itzamna, and the Great Ball Court of the Lower Temple. Some of the photographs have been worked into with ink and paint.

    Biographical Note

    Theodore Arthur Willard was an engraver, inventor (arguably a mechanical genius), musician, and amateur archaeologist. Willard was born in Castle Rock, Minnesota on December 10, 1862. His mother died in childbirth, and a strained relationship resulted between Theodore and his father. When Willard was four or five years old, his father gave him away to a childless farming couple, and Willard could only attend school in the winters when the farm was non-operational. Willard had artistic and mechanical talent besides his drive for knowledge, and graduated second in his class. After excelling in school, he worked for his eldest brother, learning to be a wood engraver. Using his skills as an engraver, he started experimenting with battery cells. In 1886 he went to Cleveland, Ohio, where he lived with his uncle Archibald M. Willard (the artist who painted the famous "Spirit of '76" portrait) and in the 1890s founded the Willard Electric Battery Company, which later became the Willard Storage Battery Company, a hugely successful and profitable company.
    Shortly after he left Minneapolis, Willard changed his name to T. A. Willard. He was married four times; he married for the last time in 1914, to Florence Voorhees, his former secretary.
    Willard became interested in the pre-Colombian art of Central America, and following his retirement from business in 1928, he focused his life entirely on the pursuit of this interest. He traveled to the Yucatan 27 times, totaling more than 8 years spent in the region. He became good friends with Edward H. Thompson, the American consul who owned the property upon which Chichen Itza stood. Willard assisted with his dredging of the Sacred Well at Chichen Itza and helped fund much of Thompson's work at Chichen Itza until Thompson's death in 1935. Willard took extensive photographs of the excavations, most of which were destroyed along with his photographic lab, during an attack on Thompson's hacienda. Willard wrote four popular books on the Maya which were a mix of fact and fiction intended to spark popular interest in the culture and history of the Mayan peoples.
    Willard's published monographs include The City of the Sacred Well (1926), Bride of the Rain God: Princess of Chichen-Itza, the Sacred City of the Mayas (1930), The Lost Empire of the Itzas and Mayas (1933), The Wizard of Zacna (1935), and Kukulkan, the Bearded Conqueror (1941).
    Willard passed away at his Beverly Hills, California home on 1943 February 3.
    References: Minnesota Historical Society. "Stuart Dimond and Family: An Inventory of Their Papers at the Minnesota Historical Society." Accessed May 25, 2011. http://www.mnhs.org/library/findaids/P2546.xml
    Rotsman, Ruth Gubler. "Theodore Arthur Willard and the Early Years of Archaeological Discovery in Yucutan: The Willard Collection." Masterkey 61 (Spring 1987): 18-26.

    Processing History

    Initial processing by Braun Library Staff. Finding aid completed by Holly Rose Larson, NHPRC Project Archivist, 2012 September 26, made possible through grant funding from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).

    Conditions Governing Use

    Copyright has not been assigned to the Autry Museum of the American West. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Research Services and Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Autry Museum of the American West as the custodian of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.

    Subjects and Indexing Terms

    Correspondence
    Negatives
    Manuscripts
    Mexico -- Description and travel
    Central America -- Description and travel
    Art, American
    Photographs
    Mayan languages -- Writing
    Chichén Itzá Site (Mexico)