Philip May Hamer (November 10, 1891 – April 10, 1971) was an American archivist and historian, and served as the executive director of the National Historical Publications Commission from 1951 to 1961. Hamer was born in Marion, South Carolina in 1891 and demonstrated an early interest in historical studies. He received his undergraduate degree at

Wofford College Wofford College is a private liberal arts college in Spartanburg, South Carolina. It was founded in 1854. The campus is a national arboretum and one of the few four-year institutions in the southeastern United States founded before the America ...

and his master's degree at Trinity College in South Carolina. He then pursued a Ph.D. in history at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

at Philadelphia, which he completed in 1918 with a dissertation on South Carolina succession. After graduation, he worked for fifteen years as a history professor at the

University of Chattanooga The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UT-Chattanooga, UTC, or Chattanooga) is a public university in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States. It was founded in 1886 and is one of four universities and two other affiliated institutions in the ...

and the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state ...

. Hamer joined the staff of the National Archives in 1935, and the following year was appointed the director of the

WPA WPA may refer to: Computing *Wi-Fi Protected Access, a wireless encryption standard *Windows Product Activation, in Microsoft software licensing * Wireless Public Alerting (Alert Ready), emergency alerts over LTE in Canada * Windows Performance An ...

Historical Records Survey The Historical Records Survey (HRS) was a project of the Works Progress Administration New Deal program in the United States. Originally part of the Federal Writers' Project, it was devoted to surveying and indexing historically significant reco ...

’s Survey of Federal Records. He later served as a division head for library services, reference, and records control. In 1950 Hamer was selected to serve as the executive director of the National Historical Publications Commission, where he served until his retirement in 1961. During his time at the National Archives he married fellow archivist

Elizabeth Edwards Mary Elizabeth Anania Edwards (July 3, 1949 – December 7, 2010) was an American attorney, author, and health care activist. She was married to John Edwards, the former U.S. Senator from North Carolina who was the 2004 United States Democrati ...

in 1940. In addition to his work at the National Archives, Hamer was also involved in professional service in the disciplines of archives and history. He helped found the

Southern Historical Association The Southern Historical Association is a professional academic organization of historians focusing on the history of the Southern United States. It was organized on November 2, 1934. Its objectives are the promotion of interest and research in Sout ...

, and served as president of that organization in 1938. He later served as president of the

Society of American Archivists The Society of American Archivists is the oldest and largest archivist association in North America, serving the educational and informational needs of more than 5,000 individual archivist and institutional members. Established in 1936, the or ...

from 1960 to 1961.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamer, Philip M. 1891 births 1971 deaths Wofford College alumni Duke University alumni University of Pennsylvania alumni American archivists 20th-century American historians American male non-fiction writers Presidents of the Society of American Archivists 20th-century American male writers