From Manila To Michigan : Murphy Museum’s Filipino collection

Frank Murphy may be unknown to the present generation of Filipinos. Perhaps some of those who live near Cubao are aware of Camp Murphy, which was named after him, located on the south side of the Araneta Center in Quezon City. Apart from that, they may not be aware that he was the last American Governor General before the Philippines became a Commonwealth of the United States.

Murphy had a brilliant political career before his post here. Encouraged by his father’s law practice, he graduated from the University of Michigan Law School in 1914. He became a recorder’s court judge of the city of Detroit before becoming its mayor in 1930.

Murphy contributed to the legal history of Michigan and the United States when he made a landmark decision allowing unions to be put up in the early years of the car manufacturing industry in Detroit. This gave birth to the United AutoWorkers and the desk which has since been christened as the "Strike Table," where he penned this decision in the museum.

After his stint in the Philippines, he became Governor of Michigan and then Attorney General of the US. For nine years until his death in 1949, he was a US Supreme Court Justice.

The crucial period of his link to the Philippines was from 1933 to 1936 when Murphy became the Governor General and then High Commissioner after the country became a Commonwealth of the US. In the Frank Murphy Memorial Museum, the material culture from that period is all over the place. The Fernando Amorsolo paintings and the collection of cloth and clothing from the Philippines particularly moved me. More touching is the community’s support and the Filipino-American (Fil-Am) groups of Michigan.

The museum is on the main street of the City of Harbor Beach, located on the shores of Lake Huron, one of the Great Lakes of Michigan, and boasts the "world’s greatest man-made harbor." Moreover, the local government has facilities for sports fishing and boating. It commissions public art and takes care of other museums in the area. Murphy was born and grew up in this place which was once a thriving trading port between Canada and the US.

I was invited to visit the Murphy Museum by the Fil-Am academics from Ann Arbor after having given a couple of lectures at the University of Michigan (UM). It took us over three hours to get to Harbor Beach by car. Professor Adelwisa Agas-Weller, Gloria Agas and Mike Price accompanied me.

I met Agas-Weller on one of her annual visits to the Philippines while she was helping to strengthen the ties between University of the Philippines Alumni Association in Michigan and the UP. She belongs to Department of Asian Languages and Cultures of the UM and teaches Tagalog there. Her sister Gloria lived in Michigan for a while before moving to Seattle. She gave me another view of Fil-Am culture in the northwest coast of the US. Price is a collector and an expert on Philippine photographs and postcards. He has also been supportive of the Fil-Am initiatives in Michigan.

The touching part of my travel is seeing how Fil-Ams claim their stake in and work hard on behalf of the museum. I was glad they took advantage of my visit there by picking my museum expertise. This is challenging work for me and lends more material for my teaching and museum practice.

The management and maintenance of the Murphy Museum is another beautiful story. It is run only by 12 volunteers who are not only involved in the operations of the museum, but also find ways to get the participation of the local community – 2,000 residents – in projects and raising funds to maintain the museum. We met three of them: Hemr, Barb McGowan and Bobbie Ramsey, who happens to be the wife of Harbor Beach Mayor Ed Ramsey. They gave us a tour of the museum and patiently answered our questions.

During our conversations, it was revealed that there were plenty of collaborative projects for the future between them and the Fil-Am organizations. Prof. Agas-Weller is leading the Ann Arbor group to find joint funding schemes with the University of Michigan and the Michigan Historical Society. They are hard-pressed for funds but are largely undeterred by their recent unsuccessful bid for a grant from the Arts of Citizenship Program of the University of Michigan Office. She told me in a recent communication that they will try again next year.

The wonderful collection, housed in Murphy’s former residence which is now a museum, and the people that are involved in continuing the project are inspiring many, including myself, to make an effort to turn the museum into a success story.

There are two parts in the tour around the Murphy grounds. One is at an older, one-level house whose front room once functioned as the law office of Murphy’s father, John Murphy. This was the early living quarters of his family. But Frank Murphy was born in the adjacent two-level Victorian House. I found it remarkable that in its exterior there were plenty of Neo-Gothic design elements. Gables had stylized cruciform accents installed on their tips while the windows resemble those found in old churches.

It is uncertain if the Murphys’ adherence to strict Roman Catholic practice had much to do with the choice of the design. Upon entering this house, you will find crucifixes in every room. However, the autographed photographs from female Hollywood stars dedicated to Murphy provide the contrast to the more religious mementos in the 10-room house.

A bachelor throughout his life, Murphy lived in Malacañang Palace as Governor General of the Philippines. His sister Marguerite acted as his hostess. Fernando Amorsolo and his less renowned contemporaries painted their portraits, which now adorn the walls of the house. According to some art historians, Amorsolo’s paintings, done before the war such as the ones in the Murphy house, were of better quality since financial pressures then bothered him less.

Crystal chandeliers and silver candelabras that decorate the place are said to be from Malacañang. Upon hearing this, the Clintons came to mind and how they reportedly took things away from the White House after the President’s term of office. One of our guides explained that those candle-illumined articles were given to Murphy by the new Philippine government before he left because at that time the Palace was to have electricity installed and would need new lighting fixtures anyway.

Perhaps to get a better picture of the past and the links between the Philippines and US history, the provenance of these objects, as well as other collections in the house, needs to be catalogued and documented. A long-term research project to study these things properly can be part of a history scholarship and all this can be subsumed under a collaborative plan with the help of the volunteer team and the Fil-Ams.

The City of Harbor Beach acquired Murphy’s home in 1994 and soon after opened it to the public. Parks and Recreation Department director Ron Wruble initiated structural and grounds rehabilitation around the cluster of houses on the Murphy property. This was made possible through community effort. Apparently, even the Harbor Beach High School Honor Society assisted in "picking stones and creating well around the trees."

Through the joint effort of the Recreation Commission and the Harbor Beach Chamber of Commerce, one of the small houses in between the old residence and the Victorian house will be converted into a visitor center with two public restrooms. They are considering installing a library where 1,500 catalogued books belonging to Murphy will be housed. All these plans take time to come about but they do materialize eventually because of community effort.

A model of community museum development is shaping up. Even local Fil-Am residents show signs of shedding some sort of insularity that often marks immigrant culture. Many recounted how they feel comfortable holding their Independence Day and Christmas celebrations around the museum, welcoming non-Filipinos to their activities. In the process, all community members gain an appreciation of Filipino practices. The museum is becoming more of a center of cultural insight and negotiation.

Murphy lent a hand in the transition that installed Manuel Quezon as the first President of the Philippines. This was an especially important time in the Filipinos’ quest for a nation and an identity. Quezon was quoted to have said that it is better to have a country run like hell by Filipinos than one run like heaven by the Americans. Perhaps we can evaluate this statement further in the light of the current crisis and painful transition that the nation is still undergoing.

History and its material culture have a lot to teach the young generation of Filipinos. Like other social history museums, the Murphy Museum could be among the tools that could make them understand themselves better. Hopefully, we can learn from this example and encourage younger people to get involved in minding similar Philippine historical materials and sites in our areas.

The Frank Murphy Memorial Museum is located at the corner of South Huron Avenue and Broad Street, Harbor Beach, Michigan 48441, USA. Contact numbers are (517) 479 3363 or through www.harborbeachtimes.com.

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