Descriptive Summary
Administrative Information
Biography
Scope and Content of Collection
Related collection
Indexing Terms
Descriptive Summary
Title: Tracy Irwin Storer Papers,
Date (inclusive): 1899-1973
Collection number: D-110
Creator:
Storer, Tracy Irwin, 1889-
Extent:
9 linear feet
Repository:
University of California, Davis. General Library. Dept. of Special Collections.
100 North West Quad
Davis, California, 95616-5292
Abstract: Tracy Irwin Storer (1889-1973) was the founder of the Department of Zoology at the University of California, Davis. In 1923
he joined the faculty of the University of California, Davis as Assistant Professor of Zoology and Assistant Zoologist in
the Experiment Station and was the department's sole faculty member until expansion began in 1935. His papers contain correspondence,
writings, and printed material relating to his work. Also included are photographs and postcards of the California missions.
Physical location: Researchers should contact Special Collections to request collections, as many are stored offsite.
Language:
English.
Administrative Information
Access
Collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
Copyright is protected by the copyright law, chapter 17 of the U.S. Code. All requests for permission to publish or quote
from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf
of Special Collections, General Library, University of California, Davis 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 by the researcher.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Tracy Irwin Storer Papers, D-110, Department of Special Collections, University of California Library,
Davis, California.
Processing Information
Sara Gunasekara was assisted by student employee Jenny Hodge in the processing of this collection.
Biography
Biographical Narrative
Tracy Irwin Storer (1889-1973) completed his education in the San Francisco Bay Area. He attended high schools in Oakland
and entered the University of California at Berkeley in 1908. Majoring in zoology, he received his B.S. degree in 1912, the
M.S. in 1913, and the Ph.D. in 1921. In 1960 the University conferred upon him the LL.D. and in 1969 named the new zoology
building on the Davis campus after him.
From 1914 to 1923 he was on the staff of the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology on the Berkeley campus, first as assistant curator
of birds and later as field naturalist. These services were interrupted during World War I in which he served as a first lieutenant
in the Sanitary Corps. In 1923 he joined the faculty of the University of California at Davis as assistant professor of zoology
and assistant zoologist in the Experiment Station of the College of Agriculture. He was not only founder of the Department
of Zoology at Davis but its sole faculty member until expansion began in 1935. He became professor emeritus in 1956.
His bibliography contains over 200 titles of scientific articles and books. He was co-author of
Animal Life in the Yosemite (1926) and
Sierra Nevada Natural History (1968). He authored several textbooks of zoology, including
General Zoology (1951) and
Elements of Zoology, (1955) which were translated into a number of foreign languages. In addition to his zoology texts, he wrote (with Lloyd
P. Tevis, Jr.)
California Grizzly (1955). This book which was reissued in 1996 is still considered the most comprehensive book on the bear's history in California.
As a result of these studies, he was called upon to assist in designing the bear on the California state flag.
He was a member of numerous societies; in several of these he contributed his skills as administrator and editor. He was vice
president and president of the Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, the Society of Mammalogists, the Society of Naturalists,
and the Wildlife Society; three times president of the Cooper Ornithological Club; associate editor of
Ecology and of
Ecological Monographs, and editor of
The Journal of Wildlife Management. In 1968 the California Academy of Sciences bestowed on him its Fellow's Medal.
Source: Spieth, Herman T. et al. "Tracy I. Storer."
In Memoriam. [Berkeley, Calif. : Academic Senate], 1976.
Scope and Content of Collection
Organized into four series: 1. Correspondence, 2. Writings by Storer, 3. Printed Material, 4. Photographs and Postcards.
Related collection
The California Academy of Sciences holds 19 linear feet of Tracy Irwin Storer Papers.
Indexing Terms
Subjects
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Storer, Tracy Irwin, 1889-
University of California, Davis--Faculty--Archives
University of California, Davis. Dept. of Zoology
Zoology--Research
Zoologists--Correspondence
X Club
Rodents--Control
Missions--California