Finding aid of the Helen Walker Truesdell papers 5038
Jacqueline Morin and Sue Luftschein
USC Libraries Special Collections
2018
Doheny Memorial Library 206
3550 Trousdale Parkway
Los Angeles, California 90089-0189
specol@usc.edu
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
USC Libraries Special Collections
Title: Helen Walker Truesdell papers
creator:
Truesdell, Helen Walker, 1898-1987
Identifier/Call Number: 5038
Identifier/Call Number: 1311
Physical Description:
0.42 Linear Feet
1 box
Date (inclusive): 1900-1938
Date (bulk): 1920-1930
Abstract: Helen Walker Truesdell was a poet and literary scholar, as well as an alumnus of USC. Born in 1897, she attended Los Angeles
Polytechnic High where she was the Editor-in-Chief of the school's quarterly literary magazine. After graduation in 1914,
she began her studies at USC from which she obtained her B.A. (magna cum laude) in 1918. She then obtained her high school
teaching credential and a master's degree (also from USC), later also earning an additional teaching diploma in 1929 for elementary
and secondary school. This small collection of memorabilia documents her time at LA Polytechnic High, USC and Oxford (where
she earned a Bachelor of Letters through a home study program), her family, and her work as part of the Signal Corps during
World War II.
Container: 1
Helen Walker Truesdell was a poet and literary scholar, as well as an alumnus of USC. Born in 1897, Helen Walker attended
Los Angeles Polytechnic High where she was the Editor-in-Chief of the school's quarterly literary magazine. After graduation
in 1914, she began her studies at USC from which she obtained her B.A. (magna cum laude) in 1918. (During those four years,
she married Clifford Truesdell II.) She then obtained her high school teaching credential and a master's degree (also from
USC), later also earning an additional teaching diploma in 1929 for elementary and secondary school. Her papers also show
evidence of a degree in Bachelor of Letters through the University of Oxford in a home studies program in 1938. (By then,
Helen's husband Clifford Truesdell had died and Helen had remarried, taking the name of Helen Truesdell Heath-- sometimes
Helen Walker Heath.) Her son, Clifford Truesdell III became very well-known in the fields of mathematics, philosophy, and
rational mechanics which he taught at Johns Hopkins University.
The Helen Walker Truesdell papers consists of two quarterly literary magazines from Los Angeles Polytechnic High School; the
Polytechnic yearbook from 1914; Truesdell's diplomas and certficates from Polytechnic, USC, and Oxford; her botany sketchbook
from USC; a folder of photographs of Truesdell including one of her and her infant son Clifford; two daguerreotypes; and two
cloth patches representing her time spent in the Code Room at the Pentagon as part of the Signal Corps during World War II.
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE. Advance notice required for access.
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Manuscripts Librarian.
Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended
to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
[Box/folder# or item name], Helen Walker Truesdell papers, Collection no. 5038, University Archives, USC Libraries, University
of Southern California
Dorothy Lillis Walker papers, Collection no. 0379, University Archives, USC Libraries, University of Southern California
Works by Helen Walker Truesdell Heath
The letters of Samuel Pepys and his family circle (1955),
The letters of Horace Walpole and his correspondents in relation to the eighteenth century (USC Master's thesis, 1922)
Subjects and Indexing Terms
College students -- California -- Los Angeles -- Archival resources
High school students -- California -- Los Angeles -- Archival resources
Universities and colleges -- California -- Los Angeles -- Archival resources
Los Angeles (Calif.) -- History -- Archival resources
Diplomas
Ephemera
Photographs
School yearbooks
Truesdell, Helen Walker, 1898-1987 -- Archives
Truesdell, C. (Clifford), 1919-2000 -- Archives
University of Southern California -- Students