Frans Blom (1893-1963) Papers, 1919-1963
(Collection 24)
Collection Guide
Prepared by Ruth Olivera and Michael F. Fry, July 1981. Revised by Ruth Olivera, October 1987 and September 1989.
Frans Blom was associated with Tulane University as staff member or head of the Middle American Research Institute from 1924-1941. Many of the holdings in the Latin American Library were acquired by Blom during that time. For a biography of his life, see Robert L. Brunhouse, Frans Blom, Maya Explorer (F1435.B63B78). An extensive collection of Blom manuscripts is located in the Bancroft Library (Z-R 8) at the University of California, Berkeley.
The Frans Blom Papers in the Latin American Library were written or collected by Blom, a prominent Danish archaeologist of Tulane University's Middle American Research Institute. Of special interest is his diary of anthropological field notes, with watercolor drawings, compiled during the 1925 Tulane University Expedition to Chiapas. Included are his Mexican gun permits, correspondence, published articles, and obituaries. The collection also includes his 1921-1922 diaries in Danish of explorations in Veracruz, with photos, maps, and drawings. 77 pieces.
Box 1 Diaries or Field Notes
1. 1921, Aug. and Sept.
"Archaeological Notes." Archaeological notes in Danish (some English) Written in Tecuanapa and Río Uspanapa, Veracruz, Mexico, with maps, photographs, and drawing of antiquities. In pencil on 8" x 4" note paper. pp. 1-46.
2. 1921, Dec. 18 - 1922, Mar. 6.
Notes in Danish. Numerous photographs of Río Uspanapa and other subjects, drawings, a watercolor, maps. In pencil on 8" x 4" note paper. pp. 1-100.
3. 1922, Mar. 31-July 12
"Dagbog over Rejse Tabasco-Chiapas 16 Marts-23 April 1922 Expedition for Cia. Mex. de Petroleo 'El Aguila', S.A. " Notes in Danish on this oil expedition which extended beyond April 23. It contains many photographs of the area; towns, places, Indians, ruins, drawings of antiquities, maps, lists of places reached. In pencil (some ink) on 8" x 4" note paper. pp. 1-235.
4-7. 1925, Apr. 21-25; May 26-July 24.
Original field notes in English taken during the first Tulane University Expedition to Middle America in 1925, which went to Chiapas and Yucatán. It includes daily observations of Indians, drawings of clothing, artifacts, sculpture and setlement patterns, and a few watercolors. See RBC 972.83B653.
8. 1926, Apr. and Oct.
Bound volume, only partially filled, of notes on Louisiana Indian sites in Tangipahoa Parish, with drawings and maps.
9. 1929.
A calendar pad for the year with a few notations.
10. 1935, Feb 12-Mar. 21
Original diary of Blom's trip to Honduras with a few drawings. A letter to his wife is written on the back of the first four pages. pp. 1-238.
11. [n.d.]
Notes in Danish, English, and Spanish on vocabulary, meaning of names, etc.
12. [Not before 1927]
"Miscellaneous notes" on bibliography, maps, distances, geographical notations, etc.
Folder 1
Translation by Kim Christensen of Blom's field notes in Danish made during his 1924 expedition to Uaxactun, Guatemala for the Carnegie Institute. Gift of Jaime Kibben. 1 May 1990.
Box 2 Other Papers
Folders 1 to 5
Correspondence includes a TLS from Tiburcio Carías Andino, President of Honduras, to Blom acknowledging receipt of a letter dated April 17, 1935. Attached is a photograph of Carías. Also a TLS from Lilly de Jongh Osborne, 17 May 1935, to Blom about a manuscript vocabulary of the Lenca language; and a TL from General Jorge Ubico of Guatemala, 22 May 1935, to Blom thanking him for a pamphlet "Guatemala Textiles." Correspondence for the years 1952-1956 is principally between Frans Blom and Edith Ricketson, his friend and the librarian of the MARI, concerning requests for various reference materials and mention of incidents of his work and life in Chiapas. He writes on the letterhead stationery Na-Blom, the name of his residence. Other correspondents are Robert Wauchope, the director of MARI who succeeded Blom, and Jessie Dingraudo Brown, a former MARI librarian. Added in 1988 is a 1939 ALS from Blom to Matilda Gray in which he is trying to raise money by getting her to buy his china. It was found in a book which had belonged to Gray and was given to the LAL by her heirs.
Folder 6
Two notes signed by Blom.
Folder 6A
Two small drawings identified as "Chamula Mands Hat Simojouel" and "El Lirinl, Río Pedregal. Vor Vart" which were found with photographs of the Tulane Expedition to Middle America, 4th, 1928. One is stamped with the name Frans Blom. See TULAPA #41.
Several of Blom's printed works or information about them appear here. In chronological order they are:
Folder 7
Publication announcements in 1926 of Tribes and Temples: A Record of the Expedition to Middle America Conducted by the Tulane University of Louisiana in 1925. Blom was in charge of this expedition and co-author with Oliver LaFarge of the book.
Folder 7A
"Remarks on the Classics of Middle American Historical Research." A paper with bibliography, delivered at a meeting of the Louisiana Library Association. 19 April 1929. A gift of Martha B. Robertson.
Folder 8
A report on the expedition of 1930, "The Uxmal Expedition," Which appeared in the Tulane News Bulletin, vol. 10, no. 7, April, 1930. In it he describes the daily routine and responsibilities of the expedition members.
Folder 9
A reprint of "Short Summary of Recent Explorations in the Ruins of Uxmal, Yucatán," a paper presented at the XXIV International Congress of Americanists in Hamburg on 13 September 1930 and published in their proceedings. This copy was dedicated by Blom to Matilda Geddings Gray. Mrs. Harold Stream donated it to the Latin American Library.
Folder 10
A photocopy of a newspaper article on the benefits of the Middle American Research Department to New Orleans, which appeared in the official publication of the Young Men's Business Club of New Orleans. 14 October 1931.
Folder 11
A reprint from The Military Engineer January-February, 1935, of Blom's article, "Maya calculations and construction." This copy belonged to Maurice Ries, who worked in the MARI while Blom was there.
Folder 12
A reprint of "La aviación conquista a Honduras," from the Boletín de la Unión Panamericana, November, 1935. Included is a 1934 mock-up of the contents of the first issue of Maya Research which Blom edited from 1934-1936. Both pieces are gifts of Mrs. Harold Stream.
Folder 13
A reprint of "Ossuaries, Cremation and Secondary Burials among the Maya of Chiapas, Mexico" from the Journal de la Societé des Americanistes, XLIII, 1954. A gift of Mrs. Harold Stream.
Folder 14
A photocopy of a typescript article by Blom, "Notes on the falsified Maya Codex of Prague. Work of Genero López," 1956. Added information on this article has been supplied by Tulane student Dan C. Meyer, who also includes a bibliography on forged works.
Blom saved certain items which directly related to his experiences or interests, among which are:
Folder 15
Three gun permits issued to him in 1919 and 1920 in Minatitlan and Puerto Mexico (now Coatzacoalcos) during the time he was working for an oil company. Also there is a travel pass issued to him by Gen. Benito Torruco and one abandoned by General Cal y Mayor at Pozo Colorado, which was found and identified by Blom.
Folder 16
The news sheet "El cangrejo," Año 1, Número 21, April 21, 1925, published in Comalcalco, Mexico, which tells of the Tulane scientific expedition, and the newspaper El despertador, Año 1, Número 242, July 18, 1925, published in San Cristóbal de las Casas, Mexico, which mentions a lecture on the Maya given by Blom in a local school.
Folder 17
A 1917 map "Plano de la zona petrolífera del istmo" with penciled markings which undoubtedly relate to his experience working for an oil company in Mexico, and an undated map of Mexico with markings which trace the route of what appears to be the expedition of 1925. In LAL Flat File.
Folder 18
Four black and white facsimile plates of the Codex Mendoza (f. 58-61 of the Codex) from an unidentified publication.
Folder 19
Invitation to a banquet to be held November 11, 1855, in the Alameda in celebration of the fall of Sebastopol, issued to Andrés Fanini (?). This is apparently an item collected by Blom.
Folder 20
Article "Koh y och," in Mañana, March 12, 1949, México, D.F., which consists of letters by Blom and his wife Gertrude Duby about an expedition they are undertaking into the Lacandón jungle of Chiapas. It includes photographs of ruins and Indians. Gertrude Duby appears in one.
Obituaries
Folder 21
