William henry scott limasawa

William Henry Scott and the new history

by Paul Morrow

  
 
William Henry Scott at Sagada in 1989.
(Wikipedia photo)

Many years ago, when I first became interested in Filipino culture, I was drawn more to the pre-colonial period of Philippine history rather than the Spanish era. This was probably due to my general curiosity about Asia. I wanted to know what the various peoples of these islands were like before Western culture made its indelible mark on them and called them “Filipinos.”

In the days before the Internet, my only sources of information were whatever books I could find in the local library or old school textbooks that some Filipino friends had lent to me. Most of these books were quite disappointing. It seemed that Philippine history began only when white men “discovered” the islands.

Some of the textbooks did have a superficial opening chapter about the pre-colonial Philippines that read like a tourist brochure. Editorial comments were often presented as facts, like the so-called character traits of each

William Henry Scott (historian)

Filipino historian (1921–1993)

For other people named William Scott, see William Scott (disambiguation).

William Henry Scott

Scott at Sagada (1989)

Born

Henry King Ahrens


July 10, 1921 (1921-07-10)

Detroit, Michigan, U.S.

DiedOctober 4, 1993(1993-10-04) (aged 72)

Quezon City, Philippines

Resting placeSaint Mary The Virgin Cemetery,
Sagada, Mountain Province, Philippines
NationalityAmerican, naturalized Filipino[citation needed]
Known forPre-colonial and colonial history of the Philippines
Alma mater
ThesisCritical Study of the Prehispanic Source Materials for the Study of Philippine History (1968)
InstitutionsUniversity of the Philippines as adjunct professor

William Henry Scott (born Henry King Ahrens; July 10, 1921 – October 4, 1993) was a historian of the Cordillera Central and pre-Hispanic Philippines.[1]

William Henry Scott was born on 10 July 1921, in Detroit, Michigan, where he was christened Henry King Ahrens.[2]

William Henry Scott: A Filipino, in heart and spirit

Who is Scotty? A renowned scholar on the culture and history of the Filipino people, William Henry Scott (1921-1993) is well known for his major works on precolonial Philippine society and the history of the Cordilleras.

A most prolific writer, Scott’s missionary, historical, anthropological, and cultural contributions are seen in “more than 170 articles, chapters, and reviews; ten books and monographs; nine edited collections of his and others’ essays; and numerous translations of previously unpublished Spanish documents — over 240 titles in all,” as described by Harold C. Conklin in “A Biographical Note and Bibliography” on Scott. (Reflections on Philippine Society and Culture: Festschrift in Honor of William Henry Scott, 2001).

Historical fact vs. folklore

Scott’s major books include:

A Critical Study of the Pre-Hispanic Source Materials for the Study of Philippine History (1968) Conklin wrote that Scott “surveys, summarizes, and evaluates with great skill the actual documentary, archaeological, and linguistic eviden

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