Cowboy Delegation to Manila

The Cowboy Delegation is a partnership between the Public History Program at Oklahoma State University and the United States Department of State. We will be working collaboratively with the United States Embassy in Manila, Philippines, to stage an exhibit that details an important and underrepresented story: that of Oklahomans who experienced World War II there. Despite being a relatively small community at the time, Stillwater's presence in Manila during the war was significant. Numerous Oklahomans were present when the Japanese invaded the Philippines on December 8, 1941. Several, including Ensign William Berry, were captured during the Battle of Corregidor. Numerous others were held in internment camps for the duration of the war. Prisoners of War included soldiers, sailors, Army nurses, and medical officers such as Stillwater-born Ted Kern. They were also civilians such as Sister Mary Shafers, a Catholic nun, and Associated Press correspondent Dean Schedler. Stillwater residents were present at every major juncture of World War II in the Philippines, as well as at moments that defined the conflict more broadly; in fact, one was standing beside General Douglas MacArthur, taking short-hand notes, when the Japanese unconditionally surrendered aboard the USS Missouri. Some of these stories connect directly back to OAMC, as in the case of Major Lorren Perdue, who flew missions to Manila accompanied by Ace, his trusted War Dog, rescued from a Pacific Theater battlefield. There are no shortage of compelling stories to tell--and we are honored to have the opportunity to help share them.

The Cowboy Delegation has been given a rare opportunity to tell these important stories in the place where they happened. An exhibit based on the lives of these remarkable and courageous individuals will be on display in the United States Embassy in Manila for the 80th Anniversary of the end of World War II in September of 2025. The Cowboy Delegation also has the unique opportunity to visit numerous sites where these individuals bravely fought and survived the war, including Corregidor Island and the University of Santo Tomas, which housed the internment camp where Shafers, Schedler, and others were confined. We will be bringing these stories back home--after their time on display at the US Embassy, the exhibit materials will be brought back to Stillwater for display in our community.  

Before arriving in the Philippines, the Cowboy Delegation will be conducting important preparation work taking place in Honolulu at the Center for Philippine Studies and our sister land grant institution, the University of Hawai’i Manoa. While we are in Honolulu, we will be engaging with National Park Service at the Pearl Harbor National Monument and the USS Missouri. Additionally, we have been invited to propose revisions to the Philippine Gallery at the Honolulu Museum of Art. These invitations are great honors and opportunities to practice public history collaboration with both government entities and private organizations. After finishing our work in Hawai’i, we will briefly stop in Tokyo, Japan where we will travel to historically significant sites and visit institutions such as the National Showa Memorial Museum to enhance our learning. Once in the Philippines, we will have the chance to visit historical sites including Baguio City and the American Memorial Cemetery in Manila. After installing our exhibit in Manila, our trip will conclude with a presentation at the United States Embassy in London, which is preparing its own 80th Anniversary commemorations. 

We are being offered a deeply meaningful opportunity to carry Oklahoma stories abroad, and to return them back home with additional context. The Cowboy Delegation both serves OSU's important land grant mission of expanding knowledge of our community and grants us the opportunity to advocate for the value of other such projects, which benefit both their local communities and communities abroad, on an international scale.