ASOR REMEMBERS P.E. MACALLISTER (1918–2019)
Few ASOR members can recall a time when Pershing Edwin (P.E.) MacAllister was not an integral part of our organization and family. Mr. MacAllister served on the Board for almost 50 years, led as Board Chair for 19 years, and was Board Chair Emeritus for six years. Every living officer and executive director received his sage counsel. There is not a living ASOR member who has not benefited directly or indirectly from his generosity.
On October 23, 2019, ASOR said goodbye to our beloved leader, as he passed away quietly at home in Indianapolis due to complications from a fall. Click here for a tribute to his life that is found on the MacAllister Machinery website.
It is impossible to overestimate or exaggerate P.E.’s importance to ASOR. Yet, those who knew him best will remember him for his wit, his loyalty, and pragmatic counsel. He loved ASOR, and we loved him. We miss him, and yet, his memory will always be as a blessing for ASOR.
Words of Remembrance Written by Eric M. Meyers and Read at P.E.’s Memorial Service
As an academic and Biblical scholar for whom history is always a “teachable” moment, knowing P.E. all these years, from the 1980’s, has been a sheer pleasure and joy. Our mutual love of history and the Bible made us friends in the best and deepest sense. We often turned to the past to learn about ourselves and the present. And often the Bible spoke with a clarity and wisdom that reminded us of our common roots in the ancient Middle East. But we were united also in other voices of the past that we deeply respected and admired from the Classical World. Why do persons like P.E. and me and many others especially his friends in ASOR turn to history and archaeology for lessons? Because there are so many rich lessons to learn from.
In terms of the Old Testament? What did we learn from the two destructions of the Jerusalem Temple in 586 BC and 70 AD? That there was a creative spirit that would not take defeat on the ground to be the last word and the survivors edited and canonized the Bible as one way of dealing with the trauma, and developing private prayer as another way of dealing with it.
P.E. always saw that creative spirit at work in key moments of our past and would call them up to our attention to make a point about business, ethics, politics, or ASOR. History mattered and P.E. was a beacon for making history relevant. In times so overly focused on the present what with social media, cable news and the 24 hour news cycle, P.E. was always there to point out an historical precedent, and teach us something. In ASOR we often said our future lies in ruins, and for PE the mute stones of the past helped him and his archaeological fellows in ASOR [founded in 1900, and vibrant today as never before in large measure to P.E.’s largess and vision], understand that a present shorn of its past is not one to last. P.E.’s legacy continues to be an inspiration for all of us today who seek to better understand ourselves and our future in light of the past.
A Brief ASOR Biography of P. E. MacAllister (slightly updated from a 2014 tribute):
P.E. MacAllister became engaged in ASOR in 1968
and has been a member of the ASOR Board of Trustees since 1976. He has served as Chairman of the Board from 1994 to 2013. His transition from Board Chair to Board Chair Emeritus celebrates more than 40 years of MacAllister leadership in ASOR and parallels the 40 years that David served as king of United Monarchy is Israel (1010-970 BCE). The Bible remarks that the youthful David was a handsome man of ruddy complexion; and our beloved P.E. as a nonagenarian exudes a similar beauty and enthusiasm, to say nothing of great wisdom. He has helped ASOR survive periods of great challenge, including when ASOR was supporting the overseas institutes. And we won’t even mention the number of Middle East wars that occurred during his tenure. During these four decades and more, thanks to P.E., ASOR has maintained its position as the preeminent organization that places the history and culture of the ancient Near East before the public in publications and in its archeological field projects. The MacAllister Endowment for Archaeological Volunteers now ensures that his name will forever be associated with ASOR (see below for the tabula honorarium).
P.E.’s advice during both good times and tough ones was always filtered through the lens of history and studded with parallels from the business world or sports community. He might turn to ancient Greece or to the Bible or even to Napoleon to inspire ASOR Board members to rise to a challenge. And at times he would turn to Hoosier history or the Indianapolis Colts for lessons that might help ASOR explore more effectively the world of the ancient Near East, a world that produced the Bible and three of the great world religions. It was always through the voices of the past that P.E. allowed his own voice to be heard.
In honoring P.E. with the gala event [in 2014] and with this endowment, ASOR and its friends, here and abroad, reaffirm the belief that recovering the past through archaeology and the study of ancient literary sources can make a huge difference in our understanding of who we are today, and that, friends, can and will continue to make a difference to our community and culture.
Eric M. Meyers, ASOR Past President (written in 2014)
A Plaudit to P.E. MacAllister
On His Elevation to Status as ASOR Board Chairman Emeritus (in 2014)
A plaudit here to tonight’s honoree
A remarkable friend and colleague is he
Its Indy we know that he’s considered a saint in
More durable it seems than even Peyton
He puts lie to the lingo that Billie Joel sung
In hyping that “only the good die young”.
As management mogul of major proportion
He’s effectively guided his business’s fortunes
Not only is he a plus octogenarian
He’s also a dedicated humanitarian
A student of history, of its stories old,
Embracing those lessons that need to be told
And though he can’t sing like Domingo or Carreras
He’s nourished our souls by support of O-per-as
A man of faith, and of grace and of dignity
What more, dare we ask, could we want him to be?
So we’ve come here today and are making a fuss
Not only because he’s a generous cuss
But of course he is that! and we’ll never forget it
For all that he’s done he deserves lots of credit.
He has well honored ASOR from the depths of our digs
As a genial compadre in support of our gigs
And so we most proudly now, as exemplar in veritas
Declare him henceforth ASOR Board Chair Emeritus
In similar mean we too want to make clear
And ensure that his memory will always be near
And honor his spirit of kind generosity
By establishing the means to continue his legacy
So thus we this day do declare, set forth, and declaim
A Fellowship Fund Endowment bearing his name
MacAllister Fellowships thus will henceforth in our nation
Provide dig opportunities for a new generation
In truth no constraints could have made us do other
To honor our long cherished, well beloved brother
Joe D. Seger, ASOR Past President (written in 2014)
Links for past webpages and posts about P.E. MacAllister
P. E. MacAllister’s “An ASOR Valediction”
P.E. MacAllister & ASOR–Remarks by Eric M. Meyers at the Gala Event in 2014
Photo Gallery From Gala Event (in 2014) Honoring P.E. MacAllister
E-Newsletter Post From 2014 Describing A Gala Dinner Honoring P.E. on His 95th Birthday
Tribute to the Life of P.E. MacAllister (from MacAllister Machinery website)
