Elsa Guerdrum Allen papers

Papers consist largely of research notes and manuscript materials for her book "The History of American Ornithology Before Audubon" published in 1951, her unpublished biographical study of the colonial naturalist, John Abbot, and other published and unpublished work on early ornithologists such as Mark Catesby and Alexander Wilson. Research includes correspondence with professional colleagues; photographs of early ornithologists and ornithological illustrations; pamphlets; travel literature; copies of grant applications; unpublished manuscripts for "The Story of Lalla," a novel with a Scandinavian background and "Minerva's Daughter," for which she sought publication by the Women's Press (1949) among others; a bibliography and manuscripts of her Ph.D. thesis on chipmunks; lecture notes and other materials relating to her work at Cornell University and the Laboratory of Ornithology. The collection also includes a color slide catalog of John Abbot's watercolors of birds and insects from collections in Europe and America arranged by bird species; a genealogy of John Abbot, with correspondence and photographs relating to the creation of an historic marker for him in Georgia. Biographical Materials include correspondence, much of it with family memebers; diaries (1912-1966); student notes, as well as family papers; photographs; and a genealogy of her Scandinavian ancestors which was used for "The Story of Lalla." The papers are in English, Norwegian, and Swedish.