Arthur A. Allen papers, 1899-19681899-1964
Collection Number: 21-18-1255

Access restricted to the permission of Prudence and Chris Allen.

Access to personal correspondence between Arthur A. Allen and Elsa Guerdrum Allen in Box 6 restricted to permission of the family until 2020.

Arthur Augustus Allen graduated from Cornell University in 1907, received an M.A. in 1908 and a Ph.D. in 1911. He served as professor of ornithology at Cornell University from 1916 until his appointment as professor emeritus in 1953. In 1919, he taught the first wildlife conservation course in the United States. Allen wrote for Magazines and journals, and authored several books, including The Book of Bird Life, 1930; American Bird Biographies, 1934; Ornithological Laboratory Notebook, 1936, 1941; The Golden Plover and Other Birds, 1939; as well as phonograph records and book sets from 1940 to 1964.

Arthur A. Allen papers, #21-18-1255. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.

Described in DOCUMENTATION NEWSLETTER, Vol. III, No. 2, Fall 1977.

See also the Elsa Guerdrum Allen papers, #21-18-1362, http://resolver.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/EADresolver?id=RMA01362.

Papers consist largely of professional correspondence, his notes as a student, course and departmental files, field notes and bird observation charts, manuscripts of his articles and books, unpublished papers and reprints by other ornithologists, tape recordings, phonograph records and recordmasters, slides, glass plate negatives, half-tone printing blocks, lantern slides, photographs and films; topics documented include bird-banding, bird identification, slide and record sales, advice to prospective and former graduate students, lecture engagements and tours, professional meetings of organizations such as the American Ornithologists' Union and the American Game Association (American Game Protective and Propogation Association), his expeditions to Panama, Hudson Bay, Labrador, Mexico and Alaska, wildlife conservation and game management, his friendship with Louis Agassiz Fuertes, his fifteen-year study of the raising of the ruffed grouse in captivity, his study of the ivory-billed woodpecker, and the acquisition, design, building, and operation of the Laboratory of Ornithology, Cornell University. Also included are personal papers, primarily correspondence with Elsa Guerdrum, whom he married in 1913, as well as correspondence with other family members, and genealogical tables of the Allen family.

For commercial use of the papers, a royalty will be required which will be deposited to a fund created to encourage study in the use of photography, avian behavior, or for the history of ornithology.

Loans must be approved by the donor.