The head of the delegation, Rear Adm. Santiago Barber y López, presented a manuscript of “Memoria de las Islas Marianas" to UOG President Thomas W. Krise at a ceremony on March 2, 2021, to be permanently deposited at the university's Richard Flores Taitano Micronesian Area Research Center.

The manuscript was handwritten by Father José Palomo in 1896, copied from the original, which was written in the late 1850s by former Spanish governor of the Mariana Islands, Felipe de la Corte y Ruano-Calderón, and published in 1876 in Madrid. It is the only known privately owned copy, owned by the family of the last Spanish governor of the Mariana Islands, Don Juan Marina. Only one other manuscript copy is known to have survived and is part of the Biblioteca Nacional de Madrid in Spain. 

"The heirs of the Marina family are very pleased to make it accessible to the people of Guam and the Mariana Islands," López said at the ceremony. "The document is expected to revive the interest that these memories already attracted in the 19th Century. In the end, it is through knowledge of our history that we can add context to the course of events, appreciate the good in our past, understand the present, and build a better future."

Carlos Madrid, director of research at MARC and the person who facilitated the handover, said the mere existence of the manuscript is testimony of the keen interest that the people of Guam in the 1800s had for the history and geography of the islands.

"CHamoru studies started back in the 1800s, and Father José Palomo was one of the early CHamoru scholars," he said. “It appears that copies of this memoria circulated in Guam in manuscript form during the late 1800s. This particular one was copied from a version that Father José Palomo had made. That makes it even more significant." 

During the ceremony, Krise drew attention to a unique aspect of Marianas history.

"The rest of the world knew about Guam and the Marianas and most of the principal islands of Micronesia for 250 years before Hawaii was discovered and 150 years before New Zealand was discovered," he said. "So the Pacific Islands, to the world, meant here for a very long time, and this celebration helps to call attention to that uniqueness."

The document will be viewable by the public later this year in a new exhibit at MARC.

Beginning of a new relationship

During the ceremony on March 2, the University of Guam signed a letter of support for the CEU Elcano International Chair, an inter-university and international project of CEU San Pablo University and the Spanish Navy to commemorate and research the first round-the-world expedition of Ferdinand Magellan and Juan Sebastián Elcano from 1519-1522. The project is focused, in particular, on matters of naval history and explorations.

"Since our [member] countries have a long maritime history, both the University of Guam and San Pablo have much to contribute ... Today, we begin a journey together, which I'm certain will derive academic fruits," said María Saavedra Inaraja, a professor of American history at CEU San Pablo University and director of the CEU Elcano International Chair.

Krise said this marks the beginning of a new relationship with Spain, the Spanish Navy, and with academic partners across the globe and opens possibilities for student and faculty exchanges.