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Manuscript Group 233
Papers, 1915-1987
10 cubic feet
The papers of Earl J. Larrison were donated to the University of Idaho Library between August 1988 and March 1990 by Don Johnson, who sorted them following Larrison's death. Other typescripts were transferred from previous holdings in the Special Collections Department. These materials were combined and processed by Judith Nielsen in September and October 1990.
Earl Junior Larrison was born in Mabton, Washington on Mother's Day, May 11, 1919. He was the son of banker Earl and Anna Marie (Kuble) Larrison. During his public school years in Seattle he was active in scouting, achieving the rank of Eagle Scout, and as a result he developed a keen interest in natural science and the outdoors. Following his graduation from Lincoln High School in 1936 he attended the University of Washington, earning a bachelor's degree, cum laude, in 1941. During the early years of World War II he was employed at Boeing as a chemist, and then returned to the University of Washington where he earned a master's degree in zoology in 1946. His thesis was on the chipmunks of the central Cascade Mountains of Washington. In 1946 he accepted a fellowship in the Laboratory of Vertebrate Biology at the University of Michigan to work under Dr. Lee R. Dice. He continued work toward a doctorate in zoology at the university until February 1949 when he accepted a position at the University of Idaho.
An animal researcher and author, Larrison taught biology, zoology, mammalogy, and ornithology at the university for over 30 years. During his tenure at the school he established the skeletal and pelt museum and the Audubon Room for bird studies at his own expense. He developed the Animal Research Library, with over 12,000 volumes, including many original prints. He was also instrumental in establishing the Idaho Academy of Science. He was the first person to catalog the animals and plants of the Owyhee Mountains near Boise, a project he undertook from 1949 to 1950.
In addition to his writing and research he was a professional photographer, with a vast collection of movies, prints, and slides of his natural science research. He was frequently a visiting science teacher in public schools in Idaho and Washington as well as a recurring speaker at student and civic groups in the Palouse region.
He was an accomplished organist and was proficient in German, French, and Latin. He wrote poetry and short stories and became an authority on Sir Walter Scott. His interest in Scott developed when a friend loaned him a life of Scott to read during a summer spent at the forest lookout on Mount Pilchuck, near Everett, Washington. By 1962, when he donated his collection to the University of Idaho Library, he had accumulated more than 500 volumes by and about the author.
He was editor of the University Press of Idaho from 1982 to 1984. Following his retirement from the university in 1984 he moved to his cabin near Newport, Washington, where he died of a heart attack on October 21, 1987.
The papers of Earl J. Larrison span the years 1915 to 1985, although family papers in his possession which are included in this collection date to the 1880s. Included are typescripts of several books and articles, journals, notebooks and other research materials reflecting to his zoological activities. Also included are literary materials, particularly those relating to Sir Walter Scott, family papers, including photographs, which belonged to his mother, and other photographs, slides, and movie film which reflect his interest in birds and animals.
The papers of Earl J. Larrison were in no discernible order when received. Therefore a series order was imposed during processing.
The first series reflects Larrison's zoological interests and includes typescripts of several of his books which had earlier been donated to Special Collections plus typescripts of other books articles, notes from several field trips, and correspondence, much of it with Harry W. Higman with whom he wrote a book on the animals of Mount Pilchuck in the Washington Cascades.
The second series concerns Larrison's interest in the writer Sir Walter Scott and contains copies of student papers on Scott from a variety of colleges and universities, and articles about his collection of Scott's books. There are also programs and cassette tapes of a Scott Colloquium held at the University of Florida in 1979, and a chronological bibliography of Scott's works.
The third series comprises personal and family papers. Included are Larrison's baby book, his diplomas and certificates, clippings about him, his appointment books, and items relating to his parents and other relatives.
The final series contains a large collection of photographs, slides and movie film. There are many unidentified photographs which belonged to Larrison's mother Marie Kuble. Some are of her friends, others of the Kuble and Miller families. Later pictures in this group show Earl as a small child. Some of these are taken by professional photographers, others are snapshots. These have not been arranged in any way. Some of the snapshots Larrison had copied so they exist in three forms, original photograph, copy negative, and copy print, each type is located in a separate folder. There are also some old picture postcards, probably purchased on a family vacation along the Columbia River Highway in Oregon. The remaining photographs were taken by Larrison in connection with his research. Some envelopes containing prints and negatives were numbered; the prints were placed in archival envelopes and identified by the roll number, the negatives were placed in archival negative storage pages and also identified by roll number. There is a photo log in the collection but it does not cover the majority of these numbered rolls. The remaining prints were identified by broad subject, e.g. habitats/life zones, birds, mammals. Prints and negatives which were together were kept together in folders, other negatives were placed at the end of the subject file, no attempt being made to match them with prints.
The slides which were originally in metal slide storage cases were placed in archival slide storage pages. Larrison's identifications were retained throughout. Included are pictures of Larrison's trip to Nairobi, Kenya, visits to various museums, many scenes of Idaho, and illustrative plates from books. Some of the slides are commercially produced.
Where more than two typescripts, including galley proofs, for a single book existed only the earliest and latest were retained. Duplicate photographs, when easily identified, were discarded. This, coupled with the removing of slides from their original storage cases, reduced the bulk of this collection by 1.5 cubic feet.
I. Zoology Material, 1915-1985 1-2 II. Literary Material, 1951-1979 3 III. Personal and Family Papers, 1883-1981 3-4 IV. Photographs and Slides, ca.1880-1987 5-10 A. Photographs, ca.1880-1980 B. Slides, 1949-1987 C. Movie films, n.d.
Box Folder Description Items
1 1-2 "Field guide to the birds of Washington," by Earl J. Larrison and Edward N. Francq. First preliminary draft, 1962 1 3 "Field guide to the birds of Washington state." Final typescript, bound, 1962 1 4 Field guide to the birds of Washington state, revision questionnaire, n.d. 1 5 "Guide to Idaho birds," by Earl J. Larrison, Jerry L. Tucker, and Malcolm T. Jollie. Typescript, bound, 1967 1 6 "Guide to Idaho Mammals," by Earl J. Larrison. Typescript, bound, 1967 1 7 "Owyhee: the life of a northern desert," by Earl J. Larrison. Typescript, bound, 1957 1 8 "Washington birds," first handwritten draft, n.d. 1 9 "Washington birds; their location and identification" by Earl J. Larrison and Klaus G. Sonnenberg. Final typescript, bound, 1968 1 10-11 "Washington birds," page dummy, 1968 1 2 12 "Washington mammals; their habitats, identification, and distribution," by Earl J. Larrison. First typewritten draft, 1970 1 13 "Washington mammals...," Page dummy, 1970 1 14-15 "The shadow of the hills," by Harry W. Higman and Earl J. Larrison. Carbon typescript, n.d. 1 16-17 "An ecological and taxonomic survey of the chipmunks (genus Eutamias) occurring in a transect through the central Cascade Mountains of Washington," by Earl J. Larrison. A thesis submitted for the degree Master of Science, University of Washington, 1946 1 18 Correspondence concerning chipmunk thesis, 1943-1944 7 19 Chipmunk variation papers, n.d. 10 20 "Mount Pilchuck, the life of a mountain," by Earl J. Larrison and Harry W. Higman. Carbon typescript, ca.1949 1 21 Mount Pilchuck journal, 1943 1 22 Mount Pilchuck book, notes, 1947-1948 37 23 Mount Pilchuck book, correspondence, etc., 1949-1950 44 24 Coypu study, 1942 26 25 Field guide to birds of the Seattle area, incomplete typescript, n.d. 1 26 Green Lake waterfowl study, field notes and typescript article, 1943-1944 3 27-28 James Hepburn research notes, including typed copies of James Hepburn's ornithological notebooks, 1932-1947 19 29 Mountain animals of the Pacific Northwest, notes and outlines, 1984-1985 24 30 "Vegetation as a factor influencing the distribution of the native land mammals of Washington," carbon typescript of article, and notes, 1946 13 31 Reprints of articles by Earl J. Larrison, 1940-1947 4 32 Correspondence, 1945-1985 173 33 Correspondence, postcards, 1915-1969 10 34 Correspondence with Michael Corry, 1969 3 35 American Society of Mammalogists, annual meeting program, 1948 3 36 Articles not by Larrison, 1936-1946 10 37 Articles by Joseph Wood Krutch, 1963 2 38 Bird watching records, 1939-1970 3 39 Field notes, Gold Basin, 1946 8 40 Field notes, Hanson Lake, 1946 6 41 Safari Journal, 1975 1
3 42-44 Scott papers, n.d. 25 45 Articles about Larrison's Scott collection, 1962 11 46 Articles about Sir Walter Scott, 1960-1971 19 47 Bibliography of Sir Walter Scott, n.d. 1 48-49 Sir Walter Scott Colloquium, University of Florida, program and tapes, 1979 11 50 Notes on Thoreau, 1951-1966 7
51 Earl Junior Larrison. Baby book, 1919 1 52 Certificates and diplomas, 1936-1984 8 53 Clippings about Earl Larrison, 1949-1981 10 54 Correspondence, 1927 2 55 Larrison family book, 1983 1 56 Library Associates Keepsakes, 1971-1973 2 57-63 Appointment diaries, 1960-1987 7 64 Memorial book for Earl Larrison, Sr., 1976 1 4 65 Marie Kuble's game book, 1913 1 66 Other personal and family papers, 1883-1949 45
67 Copies of family photographs, n.d. 269 68-73 Old family photographs, ca.1880-ca.1940 565 74-75 Marie Kuble's photograph albums, 1909-1913 2 76 Negatives for family photographs, ca.1880-ca.1940 400 77 Picture postcards, mostly of the Columbia River Highway, Oregon, n.d. 67 78 Photo log, n.d. 1 79-80 Numbered rolls, 20-45 420 81 Numbered rolls, negatives, n.d. 17 5 82-83 Birds, n.d. 234 84 Field trips and field work, 1959-1968 171 85 Pend Oreille County, Washington, workshop, n.d. 7 86-92 Life zones/habitats, 1940-1968 904 93 Mammals, n.d. 84 94 "Mammals of Idaho," illustrations; mammal skull enlargements, ca.1980 38 95 People, n.d. 3 96 University of Idaho and the Palouse region, n.d. 131 97 Wildflowers, n.d. 64 98 Zoology classes and activities, 1955 50 99 Other photographs, 1942-1959 214 100 Drawings by Bonnie Lustig, 1970 7 101 Photograph album, 1958-1968 1 102 Photographs of Earl Larrison and other personal photos, 1952-1976 70
103 Copies of illustrations from books (South American animals, Pheasants of the world, Primitive man), 1971 130 104 Illustrations for an unidentified article, n.d. 23 105 Illustrations from Birds of Mexico, by Davis, 1976 56 6 106 Alaska, 1958-1965 100 107 Alaskan Animals (commercial), n.d. 35 108 Alta, Utah, Regional Audubon conference, 1972 80 109 Animal geography - Plate tectonics (illustrations), 1974 29 110 Animal tracks in winter, 1958-1964 56 111-112 Arizona trip, 1980 150 113 Bird distribution graphics (illustrations), 1982 32 114 Bird photographs, Eastern Washington, 1976 20 115 Birds, Aquatic, 1964-1980 90 116-117 Bird prints (illustrations), 1973-1982 207 118 Chipmunk photographs, n.d. 8 119 Columbia River Gorge, 1974 17 120 Craters of the Moon area, 1964-1968 57 121 Eclipse of the sun, 1970 5 122 Ecology field trip, summer, 1971 35 123 Glacier Park, 1979 140 124-126 Great Britain, 1978 342 7 127 Great Britain, 1978 144 128-129 Habitats, 1959-1966 198 130 Idaho Biotic areas, n.d. 119 131 Idaho helicopter trip, 1979 38 132-137 Idaho scenes, 1950-1987 505 138-140 Southern Idaho scenes, 1949-1952 375 8 141-144 Southern Idaho scenes, 1958-1977 357 145 Juniper forest, 1975 16 146 Kaslo, B.C., 1960-1963 40 147 Kootenai, Glacier Park, and the Selkirks, 1961 20 148 Kootenai Pass, B.C. and bird sanctuary, 1978 53 149 Lake Itasca Museum, 1975 24 150-152 Mammal prints and drawings (illustrations), 1975 320 153 Mammals, 1958-1980 63 154 Moscow, Idaho in winter, 1975 20 155 Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helens (commercial), 198- 20 156 Mt. Hood and Tillamook, Oregon, n.d. 17 157 Mt. Rainier, Audubon field trip, 1970 18 158 Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Rainier, 1987 11 159 Mountain scenes, n.d. 59 160 Museum field trip, 1971 100 161 Museum field trips, Vancouver, B.C., museum, 1973-1980 62 162 Museum field trips, Seattle, 1976-1979 70 163 Museum in Florida, 1979 69 9 164-166 Nairobi National Park, 1975 357 167 Nairobi Museum, 1975 34 168 New Mexico, Taos, 1983 37 169 Olympic National Park (commercial), n.d. 40 170 Oregon chipmunk trip, 1964 38 171 Owyhee photos, n.d. 20 172 Pittock Bird Sanctuary, Oregon, 1969 32 173 Prehistoric animals (commercial) n.d. 24 174 Priest Lake, 1986 104 175 Project gopher, 1973 17 176 Raft River, 1960 8 177 Reptiles, n.d. 6 178 Scenery, 1970 40 179 Selway workshop, 1973 120 180 Slides for caribou picture, 1978 7 181 University of Idaho campus, n.d. 4 182 University of Idaho museum, 1973 26 183 Variations in birds and mammals, n.d. 20 184 Victoria, B.C. Butchart Gardens, 1965 5 185-186 Wemas (Audubon Society annual field trip), 1970-1986 236 10 187-188 Wildflowers, 1953-1973 158 189 Wilderness workshop, 1973 120 190 Woodland Park Zoo, 1963-1966 20 191 Wyoming, Jackson Hole, 1983 16 192-195 Yellowstone Park, 1978-1980 292 196 Zoo scenes, Mt. Spokane, 1965 17 197 Zoology 2 (commercial) n.d. 100 198-199 Family and other slides, 1965-1975 32
200 Scientific animal art (15mm), n.d. 1 201 Panhandle mammal study (15mm), n.d. 1 202-203 Mexico (8mm), n.d. 2 204 Bears (8mm), n.d. 1
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