Frank F. Hilder papers
name: label: Creator
content: Hilder, F. F. (Frank Frederick)
label: Names
content: Krewe of Proteus (Organization)
label: Names
content: Krewe of Rex (Organization)
place: label: Place
content: Philippines
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: The papers were retrieved from disposal by a neighbor of the Hilder family in Arlington, VA, who gave them to the Arlington Historical Society. The historical society then donated the collection to the NAA in 2024.
creator: label: Creator
content: Hilder, F. F. (Frank Frederick)
setName: label: See more items in
content: Frank F. Hilder papers
bioghist: label: Biographical
content: Frank Frederick Hilder was born in Hastings, England, in 1826. He joined the British Army as a young man, and was immediately sent to India where he saw action during the Indian uprising of 1857. Hilder traveled widely during his service, traversing India, Indonesia, Borneo, the Philippines, and also Africa, all the while learning about the ethnology and geography of the various lands. After distinguishing himself as a military expert in Egypt, he was promoted to the rank of Colonel at the request of the Khedive. His tenure in the Egyptian army was not long-lived, however, as his eyesight was seriously injured in a sandstorm. He left the Military because of the injury, and came to the United States, where he continued to recover.

In the 1860s Hilder went to work for Remington Arms, representing the company internationally in Central and South America. He later established businesses dealing in small arms in Chicago and lumber in Mississippi City, and conducted archaeological research in the Mississippi Valley. Hilder served as secretary of the National Geographical Society in 1898-1899, and was hired to do translation work for the Bureau of American Ethnology around that time. In 1900 Hilder was sent to the Philippines to collect ethnologic materials for the 1901 Pan-American Exposition at Buffalo.

Hilder married Mary Anne Duckworth in 1850. Following her death in 1863, Hilder then married Jane Willard Croswell. Hilder died on January 21, 1901 in Washington D.C.
physdesc: label: Extent
content: .83 Linear feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1864-1916
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: National Anthropological Archives
identifier: label: Identifier
content: NAA.2025-10
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
scopecontent: label: Content Description
content: The Frank F. Hilder papers consist of a small set of largely miscellaneous papers. Though somewhat random, the correspondence, various business and real estate papers, ephemera, newspaper clippings, publications, and photographs help to illustrate the life of Hilder in his later years. Contents provide glimpses into hilder's activities including business dealings through written agreements, society membership letters, and newspaper clippings, as well as through lecture notices, business cards, ephemera, and correspondence. 

Correspondence includes letters to Hilder's second wife Jane W. Hilder, as well as the father of Hilder's first wife, Caleb Croswell.

Ephemera includes a wide variety of materials to include Mardi Gras Krewe invitations and a set of Philippine revolutionary propaganda pamphlets.

Photographs include colored albumen prints from from Japan and possibly Egypt, photos of Hilder and others on shipboard, as well as a number of unidentified prints.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: The NAA holds Hilder photographs of the Philippines in NAA.Photolot.97, as well as correspondence in the Bureau of American Ethnology records and the  Department of Anthropology records Manuscript and Pamphlet File.

The Anthropology deparment, National Museum of Natural History holds archaeological and ethnographic materials collected by Hilder in various accessions, including 37,769 (Philippines ethnology) and 31,883 (archaeology).