U.S. Library of Congress Supports American Historical Collection in Manila

Lee McClenny, (fourth from left), U.S. Embassy Counselor for Public Affairs, hands over a microfiche card. From left: Doyle Stout, Chair, AAP American Historical Collection (AAP-AHC) Committee; Nora Conti, Acting Director, U.S. Embassy’s Thomas Jefferson Information Center; Robert Lane, AAP-AHC Committee; U.S. Embassy Counselor for Public Affairs Lee McClenny; Glendon Rowell, President, AAP; Leslie Ann Murray, AAP-AHC Committee; Reynaldo de Jesus, AAP-AHC Committee; and Waldette Cueto, Librarian-in-Charge, American Historical Library, Ateneo de Manila University.

On behalf of the U.S. Library of Congress, the U.S. Embassy recently gave a complete microfiche set of the collected works of the American Historical Collection (AHC), which is located at the Rizal Library of Ateneo de Manila University.

With this donation, future AHC patrons will be able to search and use its contents via microfiche and CD-ROM rather than by using the original documents, which will make conservation and preservation of the collection’s valuable contents much easier.

The AHC, which has been described as “unique and priceless” by Library of Congress experts, was created in the aftermath of World War II through the efforts of then-U.S. Ambassador Myron Cowen. He called upon private citizens to donate their books, maps, photographs and movies about the American colonial and commonwealth period to a single collection that could be accessed by all.

The 206-volume collection is owned, in trust, by the American Association of the Philippines (AAP) and is managed on a day-to-day basis by the staff of Ateneo de Manila, who make its contents available to students, researchers and members of the general public.