Scope and Contents
Preferred Citation
Conditions Governing Use
Conditions Governing Access
Processing History
Biographical Note
Acquisition
Contributing Institution:
Library and Archives at the Autry
Title: Fordyce Grinnell, Jr. Papers
Creator:
Grinnell, Fordyce, Jr.
Identifier/Call Number: MS.202
Physical Description:
3 Linear Feet
(7 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1872-1940
Date (bulk): [bulk, 1872-1919]
Abstract: Fordyce Grinnell, Jr. (1882-1943), was a noted lepidopterist in Southern California and founded the Lorquin Natural History
Club (now the Lorquin Entomological Society) in June 1913. Grinnell was an assistant curator of entomology at the Southwest
Museum from 1916-1917, and he obtained his BA from Stanford in 1918. This collection consists mostly of correspondence to
and school papers by Fordyce Grinnell, Jr. from 1872-1919. A Lorquin Club membership directory from 1940 also appears in this
collection. Family, general, and professional correspondence is included as well as nature study notebooks created by Grinnell's
students at West Vernon School. This collection also includes papers from Grinnell's education, and personal papers, such
as manuscripts written and collected by Grinnell, newspaper clippings, postcards, and ephemera.
Language of Material:
English
.
Scope and Contents
This collection consists mostly of correspondence to and school papers by Fordyce Grinnell, Jr. from 1872-1919. A Lorquin
Club membership directory from 1940 also appears in this collection. The correspondence in this collection includes family,
general, and professional correspondence. It also includes thank-you letters written to Grinnell by students and teachers
from schools where he lectured and correspondence regarding the Lorquin Natural History Club.
Other materials in this collection include high school and university papers containing syllabi, exams, notes, and reports
by Grinnell from his studies at Pasadena High School and at Stanford University. This collection also contains papers documenting
Grinnell's role as a teacher, including nature study notebooks created by students at West Vernon School; manuscripts written
and collected by Grinnell; newspaper clippings; postcards; and ephemera. Much of the collected manuscripts and clippings refer
to Christianity or to entomology.
Preferred Citation
Fordyce Grinnell, Jr. Papers, 1872-1940, Braun Research Library Collection, Autry Museum of the American West, Los Angeles; MS.202; [folder number] [folder
title][date].
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright has not been assigned to the Autry Museum of the American West. All requests for permission to publish or quote
from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Research Services and Archives. Permission for publication is
given on behalf of the Autry Museum of the American West as the custodian of the physical items and is not intended to include
or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.
Conditions Governing Access
Processing History
Initial processing by Braun Library staff. Biographical note prepared by Eloise Nelson 2011 May 18. Processing and finding
aid completed by Holly Rose Larson, NHPRC Processing Archivist, 2012 July 23, made possible through grant funding from the
National Historical Publications and Records Commissions (NHPRC).
Biographical Note
Fordyce Grinnell, Jr., 1882-1943
Grinnell was born 1882 June 17, in Pine Ridge, South Dakota, son of Dr. Fordyce Grinnell and Elizabeth Pratt Grinnell. His
brother was Joseph Grinnell, an esteemed ornithologist who served as the first director of the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology
at the University of California, Berkeley, until his death in 1939.
Fordyce's interest in entomology started at a young age and he began corresponding with another young entomologist, John Adams
Comstock, Jr. when he was just 12 years old. Fordyce was a noted lepidopterist in Southern California, and he founded the
Lorquin Natural History Club (now the Lorquin Entomological Society) in June 1913. Grinnell was an assistant curator of entomology
at the Southwest Museum from 1916-1917, and he obtained his BA from Stanford in 1918.
Following his graduation, he moved to Hawaii, where he taught until 1921. In 1922, he moved to the Philippines, and after
a brief unsuccessful stint as a teacher, turned to collecting specimens full-time. He collected butterflies and beetles in
the Philippines for the Bureau of Science in Manila and the Hill Museum in Surrey, England, until 1923, when he then traveled
to Australia. He traveled extensively throughout Australia, continuing to collect specimens until 1930, when his widowed mother
requested he return to the United States. He died in San Francisco, California on 1943 July 20.
The Fordyce Grinnell insect collection was purchased by the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County at the urging of
John Comstock. At least part, and possibly all, of that specimen collection was transferred to the Riverside Municipal Museum
in 1951.
References:
Comstock, John Adams. "Old Timers: [read by John A. Comstock at the Association Banquet, evening of June 19, 1965]."
Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera 14 (1975): 90-92.
Bryant, James M. "The Collectors—A Cloud of Butterflies—A Kaleidoscope of Lepidopterists." Accessed 2011 April 13.
http://www.xtimeline.com/timeline/The-Collectors---A-Cloud-of-Butterflies--a-Kaleidoscope-of-Lepidopterists.
Acquisition
Donation to the Braun Library some time before 1978.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Lepidopterists
Clippings
Correspondence
Manuscripts
Lepidopterology
Stanford University
Pasadena High School (Pasadena, Calif.)
Ephemera
Postcards
Christianity
Entomology
Southwest Museum (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Lorquin Entomological Society