Dudley Gordon Collection, 1906-1987

Summary

Creators:

Gordon, Dudley and Gilbert, Hope

Abstract:

Dudley Gordon was an English Professor at Los Angeles City College who had an interest in the history of Los Angeles and Charles Lummis. Gordon was involved in numerous clubs and civic institutions and served as President of the Charles Fletcher Lummis Memorial Association. Many of Gordon's publications were written about Charles Lummis, the Lummis House "El Alisal," or the Southwest Museum of the American Indian. The Dudley Gordon Collection contains research notes, published articles, and manuscripts written by Dudley Gordon during the middle to late 20th century. It also includes an audio recording of a Dudley Gordon interview about Charles Lummis, and photographs, pamphlets, ephemera, newspaper clippings, and correspondence related to Charles Lummis, the Southwest Museum, or Los Angeles history.

Extent:

1 Linear Feet

Language:

English .

Preferred citation:

Dudley Gordon Collection, 1906-1987, Braun Research Library Collection, Autry Museum of the American West, Los Angeles; MS.1231.

Background

Scope and content:

The Dudley Gordon Collection consists of research notes, manuscript drafts, published articles, and other materials related to Gordon's historical research and writing, especially regarding Charles Lummis. It includes an audio recording of Dudley Gordon discussing the life and career of Charles Lummis. The collection also contains photographs, pamphlets, ephemera, newspaper clippings, and correspondence created or collected by Gordon that are related to Charles Lummis, the Southwest Museum, Los Angeles history, or charitable organizations that he worked with. Materials date from the 1900s-1980s.

Biographical / historical:

Dudley Chadwick Gordon (1897-1982) was born in July 1897 in Brooklyn, New York, to parents Catherine May Carpenter Gordon and John Gordon. Dudley Gordon earned degrees from Hobart College, Havard University, and Columbia University. He moved to California with his wife, Jean Lamon Sparrow, in 1928. Gordon taught in the English Department of Los Angeles City College from 1930-1963. Gordon was an active community member who served as President of the Southern California Folklore Society, President of the Twenty Club (USC), served on the Board of Directors of the Historical Society of Southern California, and was a member of the Westerners in Los Angeles, San Diego, and London. He was President of the Charles F. Lummis Memorial Association (circa 1962-1970) and wrote many publications about Charles Lummis, El Alisal, and the Southwest Museum. Gordon also worked as a consultant in history and folklore at the Southwest Museum.

References

C., P. "Some Memories of an Old Friend." Historical Society of Southern California Newsletter. Los Angeles: Historical Society of Southern California, September 1982.

"New York, County Marriages, 1847-1848; 1908-1936,"FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:FFRL-WDC : Sun Mar 10 00:05:02 UTC 2024), Entry for Dudley Chadwick Gordon and John V Gordon, 23 August 1923.

Acquisition information:

The initial collection was assembled from library acquisitions, 1928-1978. Articles and correspondence by Gordon were donated by Mr. Dudley Gordon and Mrs. Lorraine Gordon, in 1978. Additional materials were donated to the Autry Museum of the American West as part of a larger donation from the Historical Society of Southern California (HSSC) in 2018. Within the HSSC donation were "Dudley Gordon Collection" materials that were donated to the HSSC in 1982. These "Dudley Gordon Collection" materials were separated from the HSSC donation and added to MS.1231 in 2024. The last seven folders (MS.1231.17-MS.1231.23) were part of a previously unprocessed deposit that were added to the collection in 2025.

Processing information:

Inventory created by Library staff. Finding aid completed by Anna Liza Posas, 2013. Final processing of collection and publication of finding aid made possible by a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC). Processing of additional materials from the HSSC donation (2018) and finding aid revisions completed by Molly Smith, 2024. Additional folders (MS.1231.17-MS.1231.23) that were part of a previously unprocessed deposit to MS.1231 were added to the collection with finding aid revisions by Molly Smith in 2025.

Arrangement:

Collection materials are arranged by topic and year. The first three folders contain the materials from the original collection. Subsequent materials were part of the HSSC donation in 2018 which were added to MS.1231 in 2024. The last seven folders (MS.1231.17-MS.1231.23) were added to the collection in 2025 and were part of a previously unprocessed deposit.

Rules or conventions:

Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Related resources

Related material:

Charles Fletcher Lummis Memorial Association Papers, 1912-1980, Autry Museum of the American West, Los Angeles; MSA.90.

Charles Fletcher Lummis Papers, 1850-1975, 1850-1929. Braun Research Library Collection, Autry Museum of the American West, Los Angeles; MS.1.

Separated material:

Letters and receipts from Idah Meacham Strobridge to Charles Lummis have been added to MS.1 Charles Lummis Papers, series 14. Photographs related to Idah Meacham Strobridge have been added to MS.1303 Meacham Family Papers.

The following publications have been removed from MS.1231 and added to the Autry Library:

• "Arroyo Seco," article clipping from Sunset Magazine 1977 January.
• "An American Indian's Tribute to a White Man" article reprint, published in the Westerners San Diego Corral in the Wrangler, volume 1, 1968.
• "The Birch Bark Poems of Charles F. Lummis" by Dudley Gordon, miniature book, signed by Gordon.
• "California's First Half-Century of Statehood 1850-1900" article 1971. Article published by the Historical Society of Southern California in the Southern California Quarterly, volume 53, number 2, 1971 June.
• "Charles F. Lummis and the Land of Sunshine" by Lawrence Clark Powell, article reprint from Westways magazine 1970 January.
• "Charles F. Lummis: Pioneer American Folklorist" article reprint from Western Folklore journal, volume 28, number 3, 1969 July.
• "El Alisal" by Elizabeth Campbell, article clipping from National Motorist, 1970.
• "El Alisal: the Lummis Home, its History and Architecture" circa 1964.
• "Sandburg at City College" article, 1969.
• "The Shape of Academic Libraries to Come" article by Robert Vosper, 1967 May 6.
• "UCLA, 1919-1969" article by Irving Stone, Los Angeles Times West Magazine, 1969 May 18
• Western Collector, volume 3, number 9, 1965 September.

Indexed terms

Subjects:

El Alisal (Lummis Home, Los Angeles, Calif.)
Indians of North America -- California
Poetry
Pamphlets
Correspondence
Photographs
Audio cassettes

Names:

Southwest Museum (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Lummis, Charles Fletcher

Places:

California, Southern -- History
Arroyo Seco (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Los Angeles (Calif.) -- History

Restrictions:

Access to some of this collection may be restricted due to culturally sensitive content. Requests for researcher access to materials identified as culturally sensitive will be restricted until tribal permission has been granted. Please see the Autry's Management of Native Collections policy for further information.

Appointments to view materials are required. To make an appointment please visit https://theautry.org/research-collections/library-and-archives and fill out the Researcher Application Form.

Terms of access:

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 Library and Archives at the Autry. 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.

Preferred citation:

Dudley Gordon Collection, 1906-1987, Braun Research Library Collection, Autry Museum of the American West, Los Angeles; MS.1231.

Location of this collection:

Autry Museum of the American West

4700 Western Heritage Way

Los Angeles, CA 90027, US

Contact:

(747) 201-8448

rroom@theautry.org

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