William Edmond Gates (December 8, 1863 – April 24, 1940) was an American

Mayanist A Mayanist ( es, mayista) is a scholar specialising in research and study of the Mesoamerican pre-Columbian Maya civilisation. This discipline should not be confused with Mayanism, a collection of New Age beliefs about the ancient Maya. Mayan ...

. Most of his research focused around Mayan language hieroglyphs. He also collected Mesoamerican

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printing, printed or repr ...

s."Yucatán en el tiempo", Casares G. Cantón, Raúl; Juan Duch Colell; Michel Antochiw Kolpa; Silvio Zavala et ál; 1998; ; Mérida, Yucatán Gates studied Mayan based languages like Yucatec Maya, Ch'olti', Huastec and Q'eqchi'. Biographies state that he could speak at least 13 languages. Works and archives related to Gates reside in the collections of

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

Early life and education

Gates was born in 1863 in

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, Georgia.
U.S. Passport Applications 1795-1925: William E. Gates June 14, 1917 His parents were William H. Gates (1833 in NY - 1901) and Katherine Appley. Gates attended school in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. He attended

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

and

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

. He graduated in 1886 with a

law degree A law degree is an academic degree conferred for studies in law. Such degrees are generally preparation for legal careers. But while their curricula may be reviewed by legal authority, they do not confer a license themselves. A legal license is gra ...

. The following year he moved to

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

. He ran a

printing Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ea ...

company.

Mayan studies

In 1898 he bought a copy of the ''

Codex Troano The codex (plural codices ) was the historical ancestor of the modern book. Instead of being composed of sheets of paper, it used sheets of vellum, papyrus, or other materials. The term ''codex'' is often used for ancient manuscript books, with ...

''. This triggered his interest in

Maya culture The Maya civilization () of the Mesoamerican people is known by its ancient temples and Glyph, glyphs. Its Maya script is the most sophisticated and highly developed writing system in the Pre-Columbian era, pre-Columbian Americas. It is also ...

. In 1900 he retired from his work in printing. He relocated to

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

. He became involved in

theosophy Theosophy is a religion established in the United States during the late 19th century. It was founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and draws its teachings predominantly from Blavatsky's writings. Categorized by scholars of religion a ...

. He moved to a theosophy colony called the Aryan Theosophical Colony. It was located in Point Loma, a neighborhood of San Diego. He started teaching antiquities at the colony college. While teaching, he researched and published about Mayan culture and language. He started building his own collection of Mayan documentation, including manuscripts and photographs of manuscripts. By 1910 he had published the '' Paris Codex''. Two years later, he started exploring how comparing different Mayan languages could help make further discoveries about Mayan hieroglyphs. He departed from New Orleans in June 1917 to visit Guatemala for archaeological research. He started, and served as president of, the Maya Society at Philadelphia in 1920. He started working for the Archaeology Commission of the Maryland Academy of Science as a consultant. The following year he became a researcher at the Carnegie Institution for Science. He discovered a monument dating from 120 BC in on while on a trip in

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...

. This is credited with solidifying that the Mayan culture was older than originally thought. In 1922, he started working for the Republic of Guatemala as director-general of their

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

department. He was also the director of the archaeology museum there. Gates was living in

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and traveled to Guatemala, too. After one visit in 1922 he returned to Charlottesville with a Kʼicheʼ man he had met. In Charlottesville, Gates studied the Kʼicheʼ language using a wave writer. In 1924, Gates became director of the

American Indian Defense Association The American Indian Defense Association (AIDA) was an organization founded in 1923 by social worker John Collier that fought to protect religious freedom and tribal property for Native Americans in the United States.

. That year,

Tulane University Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private university, private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into ...

bought half of his Mayan archives. He also started working for Tulane in their Middle American Research department. Gates would, by 1930, sell his farm in Charlottesville, allowing him to sustain his research. He published the first and only issue of the ''Mayan Society'' in 1930 through Tulane. It was received poorly by faculty at Tulane and never published again. Gates also published various

codices The codex (plural codices ) was the historical ancestor of the modern book. Instead of being composed of sheets of paper, it used sheets of vellum, papyrus, or other materials. The term ''codex'' is often used for ancient manuscript books, with ...

, including the ''

Dresden Codex The ''Dresden Codex'' is a Maya civilization, Maya book, which was believed to be the oldest surviving book written in the Americas, dating to the 11th or 12th century. However, in September 2018 it was proven that the Maya Codex of Mexico, pre ...

'' and '' Madrid Codex''. He was also highly active in developing education and land policies while working for the United States

Bureau of Indian Affairs The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States federal agency within the Department of the Interior. It is responsible for implementing federal laws and policies related to American Indians and A ...

in 1934.

Later life and legacy

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

acquired the other half of Gates Mayan archives in 1936. The following year, Gates relocated to Washington, D.C. He worked at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

and published three editions of ''A Grammar of Maya'' in 1938. Gates died in

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in 1940. Works by and collections once owned by Gates are held in the collections of

Published works

Gates' published works include: *
The Maya and Tzental calendars
' (1900) *
Commentary upon the Maya-Tzental Perez codex
' (1910) *
Early Chinese Painting
' (1916) *'' An Outline Dictionary of Maya Glyphs'' (1931) *''The Dresden codex'' (1932) *''The Madrid Maya codex'' (1933) *''Rural education in Mexico and the Indian problem'' (1935) *''The Maya society and its work'' (1937) *''A grammar of Maya'' (1938) *''The De la Cruz-Badiano Aztec herbal of 1552'' (1939)

References and notes

External links

Checklist of Mesoamerican Manuscripts

William Gates papers, MSS 279
a
L. Tom Perry Special Collections