Philip Wayne Powell (1913–1987) was an American

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...

specializing in the Spanish colonial history of the

American Southwest The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado ...

. He was born in

Chino, California Chino ( ; Spanish for "Curly") is a city in the western end of San Bernardino County, California, United States, with Los Angeles County to its west and Orange County to its south in the Southern California region. Chino is adjacent to Chi ...

, attended Occidental College and transferred to the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, receiving his

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

in 1936. He undertook graduate studies at Berkeley, taking

Hispanic studies Hispanism (sometimes referred to as Hispanic studies or Spanish studies) is the study of the literature and culture of the Spanish-speaking world, principally that of Spain and Hispanic America. It can also entail studying Spanish language and ...

with Herbert I. Priestley and Herbert E. Bolton. Powell completed his

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

in 1941, and joined the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

. In 1943 he taught 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 ...

and in 1944 at

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

. In 1947 he was hired by the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduates and 2,983 graduate students enrolled in 2021–2022. It is part of the U ...

, where he taught in a growing department, soon joined by Wilbur R. Jacobs, Donald Marquand Dozer,

C. Warren Hollister Charles Warren Hollister (November 2, 1930 – September 14, 1997) was an American author and historian. He was one of the founding members of the University of California Santa Barbara history department. He specialized in English medieval histor ...

Joachim Remak Joachim Remak (1920 Berlin – Santa Barbara, Cal., 2001) was a historian of Modern Europe, especially of Germany and World War I. Born in Berlin, Germany, he fled Nazi Germany in 1938 for the United States. He earned his B.A. and M.A. in history ...

Leonard Marsak Leonard Marsak (1924–2013) was a scholar of Modern European History, especially intellectual history. Biography After military service during World War II, Marsak earned his B.S. in Literature at Cornell University in 1948, (and studied for a se ...

, Frank J. Frost, Robert O. Collins, Alfred Gollin, and Otis L. Graham, and many other scholars. Powell retired and became

Professor Emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

in 1981. His research focused on the theme of the Spanish borderlands between Hispanic and Anglo-Saxon America and the earliest colonial history of the American Southwest. Among his several influential books are ''Soldiers, Indians, and Silver: The Northward Advance of New Spain, 1550-1600'' (1952) and ''Mexico's Miguel Caldera: The Taming of America's First Frontier, 1548-1594'' (1977). ''Tree of Hate: Propaganda and Prejudices Affecting Relations with the Hispanic World'' (1971) is about the relations between the United States and Spain and Latin America. Powell died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

in Santa Barbara on September 17, 1987. The Philip and Maria Powell Prize was established in the History Department at UCSB to recognize outstanding graduate students in Latin American or Iberian history.

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