Helen Walker Truesdell papers

Collection — Box: 1

Identifier: 5038

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

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 cased photographs; 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.

Dates

Creation: 1900-1938
Creation: Majority of material found in 1920-1930

Creator

Truesdell, Helen Walker, 1898-1987 (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE. Advance notice required for access.

Conditions Governing Use

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.

Biographical note

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.

Extent

0.42 Linear Feet (1 box)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

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.

Related Materials

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)