As vice governor of the Philippine Islands during the 1930s, and later as advisor on Philippine affairs to General Douglas MacArthur during World War II, Joseph R. Hayden was recipient of much substantive documentation relating to the American phase of Philippine Island history. Hayden was an astute and discerning scholar of Philippine life and history, and as such used the opportunity of his frequent trips to the Far East to collect materials (official and personal) that he knew would be of value in his teaching and research, and that he also hoped would prove useful to scholars following after him. The Philippine Collection is the heart of the collection comprising more than 75% of the Hayden papers. These files are testimony to Hayden's foresight in drawing together official documents (because of the positions he held) and other records (sent to him because of his known interest in the Philippines). These collected materials include official reports, minutes of meetings attended, memoranda with government officials, photographs, clippings, and published materials.
Over the years, researchers, unable to examine the originals, have requested microfilm copies of portions of the Hayden papers. This finding aid lists those files that have been microfilmed and which are available for inter-library loan. The bulk of these files date from the 1920s and relate in great part to the Philippine politics and to the affairs of the provinces. Many of the files relate to the Moros and to Mindanao and Sulu. The finding aid to the original collection is also available through the library's homepage.
Joseph Ralston Hayden was born on September 24, 1887 in Quincy, Illinois. He received his B.S. from Knox College in 1910, then his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 1911 and 1915 respectively. From 1910 to 1912, while a student, Hayden was an assistant in American history at the University of Michigan. In 1912, he became a member of the university's department of political science, where he remained, except for his service with the government, until his death on May 19, 1945.
During World War I, Hayden was a lieutenant in the Michigan Naval Militia serving as senior officer of the University of Michigan division. He was in active service from April 1917 to February 1919. Following the war, Hayden returned to the University of Michigan.
Hayden was a recognized authority on the Philippine Islands. In this, Hayden was carrying on a tradition begun by Dean C. Worcester, who, like Hayden, was both on the faculty of the University of Michigan and called to public service in the Philippine Islands because of his expertise and experience. In 1922-23, Hayden was an exchange professor at the University of the Philippines; in 1930-31, he was the Carnegie Visiting Professor in the State University of the Philippines. In 1922-23, 1926, and 1930-31, Hayden was special correspondent in the Far East for the Christian Science Monitor. Hayden used each of these opportunities to travel in the islands, to study, and to make contacts with Philippine citizens, both government officials and private citizens.
In recognition of his learning and wide experience in Philippine matters, President Franklin Roosevelt appointed Hayden to serve as vice governor of the Philippines and secretary of public instruction. His choice for governor general, Frank Murphy, though possessing administrative skills and political charm, was coming to the Philippines without any real knowledge of the actualities of Filipino life and custom, and thus Roosevelt's reasoning for pairing Hayden with the former Detroit mayor. Hayden responded admirably to his selection by the president, performing his duties efficiently, even serving as acting governor general when Murphy returned to the United States for a six-month period.
With the establishment of the Philippine Commonwealth in 1935, Hayden returned to the University of Michigan, where he taught and worked on what would be his classic work The Philippines: A study in national development (1941). Following his return, Hayden was named James Orin Murfin Professor of Political Science and chairman of the department.
Hayden returned to public service with the outbreak of World War II, where his knowledge of the Philippines proved invaluable. From 1941 to 1945, he worked with the U.S. Office of the Coordinator of Information and, after June 1942, with its successor organization, the Office of Strategic Services. From 1943 to 1945, Hayden was named civil adviser and consultant on Philippine affairs with the U.S. War Department, attached to the staff of General Douglas MacArthur. As part of this later activity, Hayden developed and headed up as chief a special staff section of the United States Armed Forces for the Far East - the Philippine Research and Information Section. The role he envisioned for the Philippine Research and Information Section was three-fold: to prepare reports and studies about the Philippines; to distribute information about the Philippines as needed; and to collect books, magazines, newspapers, and printed and manuscript materials about the Philippines with a view to their "effectiveness in furthering the prosecution of the war."
