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Henry A. Nordahl Papers: Finding Aid
mssHM 71650-71681
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Title: Henry A. Nordahl Papers
Dates (inclusive): 1904-1918, 1948
Collection Number: mssHM 71650-71681
Creator:
Nordahl, Henry A.
Extent: 57 items in 2 boxes + wooden box
Repository:
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.
Manuscripts Department
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2129
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
Abstract: This collection includes college diaries and three annotated college handbooks from University of Southern California students
Henry A. Nordahl (1884-1975) and Ruth Iliff Nordahl (1888-1971), as well as correspondence
from their courtship and from friends and relatives during their
time overseas.
Language: English.
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services
Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to
quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such
activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is
one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
[Identification of item]. Henry A. Nordahl Papers, The Huntington Library, San
Marino, California.
Purchased from Nick Ripoly, December 10, 2007.
Henry A. Nordahl (1884-1975), born in Nebraska on April 6, 1884, was a student and track athlete at the University of Southern
California in the first decade of the twentieth century. He and Ruth Margaret Iliff (1888-1971)
were married in 1911 or 1912. Ruth filed her Master’s thesis at USC in May 1912,
after which the couple traveled to Bolivia to do missionary work for the Methodist
Episcopal missionary agency. They eventually settled in the Los Angeles area, where
Henry worked as a high school Spanish teacher and Ruth remained involved in
church-related activities.
This collection consists of diaries from the Nordahls’ college years, correspondence
from their courtship, and correspondence from friends and relatives during their
time overseas. There are three university student handbooks - one from the
University of California and two from USC. Each of these includes handwritten notes
as well as printed rules and expectations for incoming and continuing students.
There is also a Boy Scout Diary from 1918, which includes a printed scouting
handbook and handwritten notes. Ephemera materials include an Epworth League
University M.E. Church program from January-June, 1909, a 1910 Underscored Edition
Gospel of John, a 1914 USC joint reception booklet, receipts for dues paid to the
Modern Woodmen of America, calling cards, and a single receipt dated 1948. Subjects
include the Boy Scouts of America, the China Inland Mission, the Pacific Improvement
Company, the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, the Methodist Episcopal Church, the
YMCA, the YWCA, and the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906. In most cases, these
subjects are mentioned only briefly in letters or diaries, though Boy Scouts of
America, the YMCA, and the YWCA are more thoroughly discussed in the printed
sections of the Boy Scout diary and student handbooks.
Arranged in the following order:
- Box 1: Diaries and Handbooks
- Box 2: Handbooks, Correspondence, and Ephemera
- Carved wooden box
Boy Scouts of America
- Subject in Boy Scout Diary (1918). HM 71656.
China Inland Mission
- Subject in Ruth Nordahl letter (1911, July 11) to Henry A. Nordahl. HM 71668.
Pacific Improvement Company
- Subject in Mercy Webster letter (1912, Apr. 28) to Ruth Nordahl. HM 71680.
San Francisco Earthquake and Fire, Calif., 1906
- Subject in Henry A. Nordahl, Student Handbook, University of California (1905-1906). HM 71652.
Woman's Christian Temperance Union
- Subject in Marietta E. Miner letter (1915, Dec. 12) to Ruth Nordahl. HM 71662.
Young Men’s Christian Association
- Subject in Henry A. Nordahl, Student Handbook, University of California (1905-1906). HM 71652.
- Subject in [Ruth Nordahl], Student Handbook, University of Southern California (1906- 1907). HM 71657.
- Subject in Ruth Nordahl, Student Handbook, University of Southern California (1911- 1912). HM 71658.
Young Women’s Christian Association
- Subject in Henry A. Nordahl, Student Handbook, University of California (1905-1906). HM 71652.
- Subject in Ruth Nordahl, Student Handbook, University of Southern California (1911- 1912). HM 71658.
- Subject in Mercy Webster letter (1912, Apr. 28) to Ruth Nordahl. HM 71680.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
Huntington Library's Online Catalog.
Nordahl, Henry
A.
China Inland
Mission.
Methodist Episcopal
Church -- California.
Pacific Improvement
Company.
Woman's Christian
Temperance Union.
YMCA of the
USA.
Young Women's
Christian Association of the U.S.A.
San Francisco Earthquake and Fire,
Calif., 1906.
Missionaries -- Bolivia.
California -- History
-- 20th century -- Sources.
Los Angeles
(Calif.)
Diaries -- California -- 20th century.
Letters (correspondence) -- California
-- 20th century.
Manuals (instructional materials) --
California -- 20th century.
Nordahl, Ruth.
Boy Scouts of America.
University of Southern California.