Photographs and pamphlets collected by Eber Cole Byam relating to American-owned rubber plantations and rubber cultivation in Chiapas, Mexico. They also include photographs depicting Mexicans, Lacandon peoples, dwellings, the Palenque Mayan site, religious schools, banana trains, mahogany cutting, and portraits of Francisco Orozco y Jimenez, Bishop of Chiapas and Archbishop of Guadalajara; they may include images of Eber Cole Byam and his family. The pamphlets include halftone prints of photographs by C. V. Cooper, published by the Castilloa Rubber Plantation Company, as well as publications by the Chiapas Rubber Plantation Company, Tulija River Plantation Company, and Palenke Rubber Plantation Company. The collection also includes some notes and records from Byam's time with the Chacamas Plantation Company.
Biographical/Historical note:
Eber Cole Byam (1886?-1937) was raised on his parents' rubber plantation in the state of Chiapas, Mexico. He was manager of the Chacamax Land Company, which had large holdings in Chiapas. Much of Byam's property was lost during the socialist revolution (1910-1920) and he became a vocal critic of revolutionary Mexico, accusing the movement of having purely anticlerical motives. He later became a member of the staff of Francis Clement Kelley, helping the Catholic bishop obtain documentation for his book "Blood-Drenched Altars" and other writings.
Local Call Number(s):
NAA Photo Lot 85-10
Restrictions:
The collection is open for research.
Access to the collection requires an appointment.