Graphical version

School of Oriental and African Studies

Powell, Ifor Ball


IDENTITY STATEMENT

Reference code(s): GB 0102 PP MS 26

Held at: School of Oriental and African Studies

Title: Powell, Ifor Ball

Date(s): Created 1926-1986

Level of description: Collection (fonds)

Extent: 164 boxes

Name of creator(s): Powell | Ifor Ball | 1902-1986 | historian

CONTEXT

Administrative/Biographical history:

Ifor Ball Powell was born on 12 September 1902, at Llanfihangel Talyllyn, Brecon. He was a student at Aberystwyth in the early 1920s, where he came under the influence of C. K. Webster and Sidney Herbert in the then newly founded department of International Politics. A Rockefeller fellowship took him to the University of Michigan to study American history. While there he became interested in the Far East. Powell became particularly interested in the Philippines, when he arrived there as a Rockefeller scholar in 1926. He spent three years visiting islands in the central and southern Philippines, collecting a vast amount of information and material on the government, economy and history of the islands. He was particularly interested in the history of the British in the Philippines and collected material on British firms and society. After his return to Britain, and for the rest of his life, Ifor Powell continued his interest in and links with the Philippines, writing to many Filipino friends and colleagues and maintaining an extensive collection of press cuttings.

During the 1930s, Ifor Powell taught history at Barry County Grammar School for Boys. In 1940 he took up wartime duties as a temporary civil servant in the Ministry of Labour. He also visited the United States as a representative of the Royal Institute of International Affairs. In 1945 he was appointed to the Department of History, University College, Cardiff, to teach modern European history. In this position he introduced courses on the expansion of Europe, Far Eastern and American history. From 1949 his teaching was entirely in these fields. Cardiff was thus among one of the first history departments in the UK to widen its syllabus to accommodate new areas of interest created by the Second World War.

He married Anne Nora Lewis (d. 9 March 1983) on 18 August 1931. There were no children. Ifor Ball Powell died on 11 December 1986, at Barry, Glamorgan.

CONTENT

Scope and content/abstract:

Papers, 1926-1986, of Ifor Ball Powell, largely comprising the Philippine reference material collected by him, together with his correspondence and personal papers. The reference material covers topics such as the Philippine legislature; Philippine administration; political parties, elections and election statistics; US Philippine agreements and relations; Philippine Islands during World War II; and the City of Manila. Also included are photographs taken during Powell's field trips in Southeast and East Asia, particularly in the Philippines, and an extensive collection of press cuttings.

ACCESS AND USE

Language/scripts of material: English

System of arrangement:

The collection has been arranged into three sections: Ifor Ball Powell's personal papers; Philippine reference material; and miscellaneous materials.

Conditions governing access:

Unrestricted.

Conditions governing reproduction:

No publication without written permission. Apply to archivist in the first instance.

Physical characteristics:

Finding aids:

Unpublished handlist.

ARCHIVAL INFORMATION

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:

Accruals:

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

Bequeathed to SOAS library on Ifor Ball Powell's death in 1986.

ALLIED MATERIALS

Existence and location of originals:

Existence and location of copies:

Related material:

Publication note:

DESCRIPTION NOTES

Note:

Date(s) of descriptions: 15 May 2000


INDEX ENTRIES
Subjects
Academic teaching personnel | Teachers | Educational personnel | Personnel | People by occupation | People
Asian cultures | National cultures
Asian history | National history
Decolonization | Colonial countries | Political systems
Elections | Electoral systems | Internal politics
Foreign relations | International relations
Government departments | Central government | Public administration | Government
Historians | Social scientists
Local government | Public administration | Government
Newly independent states | Political systems
Parliament | Internal politics
Parliamentary systems | Democracy | Political systems
Photographs | Visual materials
Political participation | Political behaviour | Political sociology
Political parties | Internal politics
Press cuttings | Newspaper press | Press
Statistical data | Statistics
Travel abroad | Travel
War | International conflicts
World War Two (1939-1945) | World wars (events) | Wars (events)
History

Personal names
Powell | Ifor Ball | 1902-1986 | historian

Corporate names
Royal Institute of International Affairs x Chatham House
University of Michigan

Places
London | England | UK | Western Europe | Europe
Manila | Philippines | South East Asia
USA | North America