HARRISON BRUCE TORDOFF AND FAMILY:

An Inventory of Their Papers at the Minnesota Historical Society

Manuscripts Collection

Part or all of this collection is restricted.
For details, please see restrictions.


Expand/CollapseOVERVIEW

Creator: Tordoff, Harrison Bruce, 1923-, creator.
Title:Harrison Bruce Tordoff and family papers.
Dates:1890-2013 (bulk 1943-1996).
Language:Materials in English.
Abstract:Biographical and family materials, correspondence, field investigation journals and other professional materials, files relating to ruffed grouse, and grouse hunting diaries of Tordoff, an internationally-acclaimed ornithologist and director of the James Ford Bell Museum of Natural History. Includes writings of and family materials collected by Tordoff's son Jeffrey.
Quantity:1.5 cubic feet (2 boxes).
Location: See Detailed Description for shelf locations.

Expand/CollapseBIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Harrison Bruce TordoffHarrison Bruce ("Bud") Tordoff was born February 8, 1923, in Mechanicville, New York, to Henry Ferdinand and Ethel (Dormandy) Tordoff. He joined the United States Army Air Forces in 1943, escorting bombers on the European front. Tordoff earned a B.A. from Cornell University, and M.A. and PhD degrees from the University of Michigan. He taught at the University of Kansas, the University of Michigan, and at the University of Minnesota, where he directed the James Ford Bell Museum of Natural History from 1970 to 1983. He led the successful effort to reintroduce peregrine falcons to the Midwest in the 1980s.

Tordoff married Jean Van Nostrand in 1946. The couple had two sons, Jeffrey Paul Tordoff (1947-2015) and Jim Tordoff, and a daughter, Judith Hill Tordoff. Harrison Tordoff died July 23, 2008 in Saint Paul.


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Expand/CollapseADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Use Restrictions:

Copyright in the manuscripts Grouse hunters and Abiding instinct reserved by Jeffrey P. Tordoff and Maurine L. Davidson; quotation or publication beyond the fair use provisions of the copyright law requires written permission. Consult the reference staff for more information.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Harrison Bruce Tordoff and Family Papers. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Accession Information:

Accession number: 16,903; 17,062; 17,182

Processing Information:

Processed by: David B. Peterson, August 2014; addition by David B. Peterson, December 2015

Catalog ID number: 990080384250104294


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DETAILED DESCRIPTION

LocationBox
153.I.13.13B1Biographical, family, and genealogical materials:
Betty Tordoff's genealogical materials and photographs, undated, circa 1890s-1950s.
Ethel Dormandy Tordoff diaries, 1961-1962.
Harrison Tordoff biographical documents, 1923, 1946.
Jeffrey Paul Tordoff correspondence and related miscellany, 1965-2001.
Judith Hill Tordoff, 1968-1972. 2 folders.
Tordoff's file on his daughter, including her attendance at the University of Michigan and her death from cancer in 1970.
Tordoffs elsewhere, 1964-1987.
Tordoff family reunion, Saratoga, New York, 1989.
Includes family group sheets and genealogical data.
Correspondence files:
James Bond, 1946-1984.
Robert S. Butsch, 1952-1993, 2013.
William R. Dawson, 1962-1982.
William C. Dilger, 1952-1965.
Charles A. Ely, 1966.
James S. Findley, 1954-1967.
Norman L. Ford, 1959-1981.
Richard and Jean Graber, 1950-1995.
John William Hardy, 1955-1989.
Theodore H. Hubbell, 1957-1967.
Philip S. Humphrey, 1950-1989.
Joseph R. Jehl, Jr., 1962-1987.
Samuel Kirkwood, 1970-1999. 2 folders.
Includes one folder of data compiled by Jeffrey P. Tordoff.
C. Bernard Lewis, 1947-1955.
William A. Lunk, 1952-1980.
Robert M. Mengel:
Robert M. Mengel, 1945-1995.
Memorial, 1990-1992. 2 folders.
Includes memorial tributes by Tordoff.
Manuscript draft of Fly Fisherman's Odyssey, 1983.
Sent to Tordoff for his comments; the volume was published in 1993.
Pencil sketches of Harrison and Jean Tordoff, undated and 1946. 5 drawings in one folder.
Background file, 1957-1990.
Includes published catalogs and two original drawings.
University of Michigan, 1949-1972.
Robert Reinert, 1974, 1994.
George M. Sutton, 1943-1982.
Max Thompson, 1956-1967.
Josselyn Van Tyne, 1946-1959.
Robert W. Wilson, 1957-1974.
Kudos & bitches (congratulatory correspondence), 1952-2006.
Miscellaneous correspondence, 1983-1995.
Professional materials:
Cornell University: Zoology 126 class notes, 1942-1943.
Tordoff's first ornithology class.
University of Kansas Museum of Natural History:
Field investigation journals, 1950-1956. 2 folders.
Includes specimen catalog.
Miscellany, 1953-1960.
University of Michigan:
Field investigation journals and miscellany, 1959-1970.
Costa Rica field investigation journal, 1965.
Die Tordalk, Festschrift, February 8, 1967. 1 volume.
Tributes to Tordoff from colleagues on the occasion of his 44th birthday, bound together as a book.
Subject files:
Checklist of birds seen at North Oaks, 1972.
Dog pedigrees, 1969-1996.
LocationBox
153.I.13.14F2Dogs and guns, 1948-1994.
Peregrine falcon clippings, 1984-1985.
Photographs, 1946-1956.
Ruffed Grouse Society, 1971-1983.
Upupa Epops (airplane), 2004-2005.
Woodcocks, undated and 1984-1991, 1998.
Grouse hunting diaries, 1967-1984. 15 volumes.
Jeffrey P. Tordoff materials:
Abiding instinct: the sportsman's progress, undated.
Use Restricted: Manuscript copyrighted by Jeffrey P. Tordoff and Maurine L. Davidson; quotation or publication beyond the fair use provisions of the copyright law requires written permission.
Grouse hunters, undated.
Use Restricted: Manuscript copyrighted by Jeffrey P. Tordoff and Maurine L. Davidson; quotation or publication beyond the fair use provisions of the copyright law requires written permission.
Correspondence with parents, 1996-2006.
Harrison Tordoff:
Articles about Harrison Tordoff, 1978-2000.
Memorials, 2008.
Hunting journal, 1992-2000. Typed transcript.
Pacific Ocean biological survey program, 1964-1968. 2 folders.
Photographs: Hunting with Gene Marti, 2000.
[0.5 cubic feet empty, letter size]

Expand/CollapseCATALOG HEADINGS

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:
Grouse.
Hunting.
Museum directors -- Minnesota.
Ornithologists -- Minnesota.
Persons:
Tordoff, Jeffrey P. (Jeffrey Paul), 1947-2015, creator.
Document Types:
Diaries.
Photographs.

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