Thomas K. Todsen collection
Collection
Identifier: Ms-0223
Scope and Contents
The collection consists of materials collected by Dr. Thomas K. Todsen. Areas of interest to him included Arizona/New Mexico postal history, US postal stamps, postcards and photographs related to New Mexico; letters, receipts, advertisements, and various documents related to New Mexico. The collection is arranged in three series: Papers, Stamp Collection, and Photographs. Papers consist of miscellaneous letters, receipts, articles and other documents related to New Mexico collected by Dr. Todsen. The Stamp Collection consists of United States postage stamps collected by Dr. Todsen. Subjects include notable people, space
exploration, Christmas, etc. The Photograph series is the bulk of the collection and primarily consists of postcards, contact prints, and copy negatives. Subjects include the Mexican Revolution, southern and northern New Mexico, national parks, historic landmarks, New Mexico post offices, New
Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, etc. The Papers and Photographs series are arranged by accession.
Dates
- 1826 - 1990
Conditions Governing Use
Open. All materials in this collection are available for research under supervised conditions in the Research Room. Researchers should contact the department in advance to make arrangements to view unprocessed materials, as these may need to be screened before use.
Biographical / Historical
Dr. Thomas K. Todsen was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts on October 21, 1918 to Lorenz K. Todsen and Ellen (Christensen) Todsen. He died on December 22, 2010 in Abilene, Texas. At the age of 12, after his father’s death, the family moved to St. Petersburg, Florida. Dr. Todsen graduated from St. Petersburg High School in 1935 and went on to receive his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in chemistry in 1939 and 1941 and his Ph.D. in organic chemistry in 1950, all from the University of Florida. While at the university, Dr. Todsen met his wife Margaret C. Dorsey. They wed on August 4, 1939.
Dr. Todsen enlisted in March 1942 and served as an Army Chemical Warfare Service officer. He was honorably discharged in August 1947 as a Captain. He went on to attain the rank of Major while serving in the Army Active Reserves from 1951-1962. He taught briefly at New Mexico State University before he was hired at White Sands Missile Range as Chief Chemist in 1950. At the time of his retirement from WSMR in 1978, Dr. Todsen was serving as the Director of the Army Missile Test and Evaluation Command.
Dr. Todsen had various interests, including Arizona/New Mexico postal history, the study of orchids and wildflowers, and photography. Several of his photographs appear in Wild Flowers of the United States. He discovered a new species of fossil snail and has a wildflower named after him: Todsen’s pennyroyal (Hedeoma todsenii). He wrote New Mexico Territorial Postmark Catalog and co-wrote The Travelling Post Offices of Mexico. He also authored numerous scientific articles and publications.
Dr. Todsen was a member of the Orchid Society of America, the American Society of Plant Taxonomists, the New Mexico Rare Plant Technical Council, the American Media Photographer’s Association, the Mesilla Valley Stamp Club, the American Chemical Society, American Ordnance Association, and Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. His name has been listed in Who’s Who in the West, American Men of Science, and Dictionary of International Biography.
Dr. Todsen enlisted in March 1942 and served as an Army Chemical Warfare Service officer. He was honorably discharged in August 1947 as a Captain. He went on to attain the rank of Major while serving in the Army Active Reserves from 1951-1962. He taught briefly at New Mexico State University before he was hired at White Sands Missile Range as Chief Chemist in 1950. At the time of his retirement from WSMR in 1978, Dr. Todsen was serving as the Director of the Army Missile Test and Evaluation Command.
Dr. Todsen had various interests, including Arizona/New Mexico postal history, the study of orchids and wildflowers, and photography. Several of his photographs appear in Wild Flowers of the United States. He discovered a new species of fossil snail and has a wildflower named after him: Todsen’s pennyroyal (Hedeoma todsenii). He wrote New Mexico Territorial Postmark Catalog and co-wrote The Travelling Post Offices of Mexico. He also authored numerous scientific articles and publications.
Dr. Todsen was a member of the Orchid Society of America, the American Society of Plant Taxonomists, the New Mexico Rare Plant Technical Council, the American Media Photographer’s Association, the Mesilla Valley Stamp Club, the American Chemical Society, American Ordnance Association, and Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. His name has been listed in Who’s Who in the West, American Men of Science, and Dictionary of International Biography.
Extent
7.25 Linear Feet
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Dr. Thomas K. Todsen was an avid collector of materials related to New Mexico. His collection consists primarily of postcards depicting New Mexico and the southwest. His collection also contains letters, receipts, and miscellaneous documents related to New Mexico.
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Elizabeth Villa (Spring 2019).
- Advertising
- Cities and towns--U.S. states--New Mexico--Photographs
- College buildings--New Mexico--Photographs
- Correspondence
- Frontier and pioneer life--New Mexico
- Mexican-American Border Region
- Mexico--History--Revolution, 1910-1920--Photographs
- Military camps--New Mexico--Photographs
- Military camps--Texas--Photographs
- National monuments--New Mexico--Photographs
- New Mexico -- Social life and customs
- New Mexico Military Institute--Photographs
- New Mexico State University--Photographs
- Photographs--United states--Southwest region
- Post office buildings--United States--New Mexico--Photographs
- Postage stamps--United States
- Postcards -- Southwest, New
- Pueblos--New Mexico--Photographs
- United States Army--History--Punitive Expedition into Mexico, 1916--Photographs
- Title
- Guide to the Thomas K. Todsen collection
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Finding aid by Elizabeth Villa
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
- Language of description note
- English
Repository Details
Part of the New Mexico State University Library Archives and Special Collections Repository