E. Herman Hespelt was born in Binghamton on September 6, 1886. He received an A.B. from Cornell (1910), an A.M. from Cornell (1917) and a Ph.D. from Cornell (1925). While at Cornell as an undergraduate, he belonged to the German club and was involved in their production of plays. On May 15, 1910, he won a fellowship for German Studies.

On April 9, 1911, he received a letter from the War Department appointing him as a teacher in the Philippines, with a salary of $1,200 per year. He arrived in the Philippines at the end of May.

In December 1911 he taught at the “teachers’ institute” in Sorsogon for a seminar, helped organize the Bicol Athletic Meet and an “industrial exhibit” of craftwork made by students. He continued at that position until June 1912. In June 1912, he was transferred to Gubat, the largest and most important district of the province of Sorsogon where he supervised 13 schools.

In 1913 and 1914, he travelled extensively to inspect schools and for pleasure. Baguio, Hong Kong, Macao, Bulan, San Fernando, and San Jacinto on the Ticao Island, Mindanao, and Mati are some of the spots that he travelled to. For business, he covered the entire district of Sorsogon and visited Manila, Cubu, Opon, and the south of Zamboanga, Basilan, Cotaboto, and Malabang.

In May 1914, he became the supervisor of a seminar of the Normal Institute for Teachers in Sorsogon where five other Americans and 14 natives taught 230 prospective teachers for five weeks. He was promoted to industrial supervisor of the entire island of Mindanao in August 1914. In 1915, he inspected the entire west coast of Cubu, Dumaguete, Zamboanga, Jolo, Davao, Talomo, Santa Cruz, Mati, Chinkang, and Manila.

His stay in the Philippines concluded in June 1916 after a three-week trip to Despitan, occasional excursions to visit planters and missionaries, and leading the yearly teacher seminar in Sorsogon.

After finishing his Masters Degree, he taught at Cornell (1918-1919), Pennsylvania State University (1919-1920), and Elmira College (1921-1926). After earning his doctorate, he taught at New York University (1926-1952).

Hespelt was an associate editor of Hispania from 1927-1938 and 1948-1958, editor of Revista de Estudios Hispánicos, and associate editor of Revista Iberoamericana. He made a number of important contributions to the teaching of Spanish including the preparation of Outline History of Spanish American Literature and the accompanying anthology of Spanish American Literature. He was consultant for several publishing companies and was one of the principal readers for Norton in the field of Spanish.

E. Herman Hespelt died in Ithaca, NY in 1961 at the age of seventy-five.