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
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)