Ambeth R. Ocampo's Blog, page 60

Happy Halloween! Deirdre dela Cruz, Associate Professor of History at the University of Michigan has discovered what are pr...

Happy Halloween!
Deirdre dela Cruz, Associate Professor of History at the University of Michigan has discovered what are probably the earliest documented spirit photographs from the Philippines in the “Album de Fotografias Espiritas.” (Casa Editorial Carbonell y Esteva. Barcelona, 1903). She has published a fascinating journal article putting the photos in context.
This photo taken in the studio of Joaquin Reyes in Santa Cruz Manila at the close of the 19th century shows a widower, Mr,...

One of the charming plots in the Manila North Cemetery erected by the Firemen's Relief Association in 1912 is bounded by fire hy...

One of the charming plots in the Manila North Cemetery erected by the Firemen's Relief Association in 1912 is bounded by fire hydrants. So much history you can read from graves in this cemetery.



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It is called serendipity, because it is not everyday that a historian finds his mother while doing library research abroad.Goi...

It is called serendipity, because it is not everyday that a historian finds his mother while doing library research abroad.

Going over Filipiniana periodicals in the Mauro Garcia Collection, Sophia University Library, Tokyo I found photos of Rizal's mother and sister then in a magazine article on promoting tourism in the Philippines--there was mom, beautiful in her Balintawak, it was like she came out of a landscape by Fernando Amorsolo.

If only she passed on 1% of her beauty on me, my life wo...

Historian Ambeth Ocampo on the importance of visiting museums and staying curious

It may be the end of Museums month, but really now museum visits should be part of your schedule: any month, any week, any day when you have free time.
"Cabinet of Curiosities" would not be if it were not for visits to museums accessible to me: National Museum of the Philippines, Ayala Museum, Lopez Museum and Library, Intramuros Administration, the museums of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines, UP Vargas Museum, Ateneo Art Gallery.
There are places where you can handle and le...

PHOTOBOMBER IN HISTORY. Emilio Aguinaldo photographed in his Biak-na-Bato camp circa 1897. When this image was published th...

PHOTOBOMBER IN HISTORY.
Emilio Aguinaldo photographed in his Biak-na-Bato camp circa 1897. When this image was published the nameless "photobomber" in the back was cropped out.
The same curation applies in history. No historian can be completely objective. Every historian is subjective because he must choose, from his research, what to include/exclude from his narrative. A narrative always based on Fact and Truth, those that deliberately do otherwise propagate fake news.



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Before National Bookstore, there was the National Panciteria Hotel on Escolta.Photos of the city before the 1945 Battle for Man...

Before National Bookstore, there was the National Panciteria Hotel on Escolta.
Photos of the city before the 1945 Battle for Manila provide me with hours and hours of fun as I try to read the names of restaurants, stores, and other commercial establishments off signs and buildings.



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Mighty Magulang: Cabinet of Curiosities

Meow! Meow!!
Thanks to Mona better known on TikTok as Mighty Magulang for recommending Cabinet of Curiosities.
Glad she was not bored :)



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Juan Luna's mortal remains now lie in niche 73 in the San Agustin Church crypt (Left). According to the eminent modern arc...

Juan Luna's mortal remains now lie in niche 73 in the San Agustin Church crypt (Left).
According to the eminent modern architect, Antonio S. Sindiong, the bones of Juan Luna used to be kept in a pail under the bed of his son Andres Luna. I used to think Architect Sindiong was making this up until I found a news clipping from 1953 on the transfer of Luna's remains from the pail (Right) to the San Agustin Crypt done by Luna's daughter-in-law Grace Luna de San Pedro.



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Speaking before engaged young people is my way of making sure that some day the present will stop reading like the past. Thanks ...

Speaking before engaged young people is my way of making sure that some day the present will stop reading like the past. Thanks to the Ateneo English Department for thinking me worthy of providing “enrichment” to their purposive communications classes.



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Pilgrimage in Tokyo, Fall 2023.When in Tokyo, Freud and I always drop by Hibiya Park to visit the historical markers for Jose R...

Pilgrimage in Tokyo, Fall 2023.
When in Tokyo, Freud and I always drop by Hibiya Park to visit the historical markers for Jose Rizal (Top) and Elpidio Quirino (Bottom). On this pilgrimage we were joined by the feisty Manila Times columnist Maribel Ongpin.
This time we skipped the nearby Godzilla statue because it wasn't on our route to the supermarket.
Godzilla Rizal and Quirino are near the Peninsula and Imperial hotels. Hibiya metro station



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