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Clarence C. Gordon papers, 1932-1982

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Gordon, Clarence C., 1928-1981
Title
Clarence C. Gordon papers
Dates
1932-1982 (inclusive)
Quantity
101 linear feet
Collection Number
Mss 611
Summary
Clarence "Clancy" C. Gordon served as a professor of Botany and Environmental Studies at the University of Montana-Missoula from 1960 until his death in 1981. This collection contains materials related to Gordon’s prolific environmental research while at the University, and his participation as a key witness in litigation brought against major polluters in Montana, the United States, Canada and Germany during the 1960s and 1970s.
Repository
University of Montana, Mansfield Library, Archives and Special Collections
Archives and Special Collections
Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library
University of Montana
32 Campus Dr. #9936
59812-9936
Missoula, MT
Telephone: 406-243-2053
library.archives@umontana.edu
Access Restrictions

Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of Archives and Special Collections, the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, and The University of Montana--Missoula.

Languages
English
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Biographical Note

Clarence C. Gordon was born in Seattle, Washington on July 26, 1928. While growing up in Seattle during the Great Depression and World War II, Gordon’s family had very little money and he was in and out of school during most of his youth. He favored hunting, fishing and other outdoors activities over spending time in the classroom, and this preference often resulted in suspensions and even expulsion. Despite these common absences and disciplinary problems, Gordon gradated from public high school in Seattle at the age of seventeen. He spent the next four years of his life as a commercial fisherman in Alaska, and then was drafted for a brief stint in the Korean War. Upon release from his military service, Gordon returned to commercial fishing until he met his future wife, Nancy Ward, while taking vocational training in seamanship. Deciding that commercial fishing would not be a favorable career for a married man with a family, Gordon enrolled at the University of Washington in Seattle.

After two years in pre-medicine at the University of Washington, Gordon switched his major to Mycology, the study of fungus, graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in 1956. Next, Gordon was accepted for gradate study at Washington State University in Pullman, where he remained until receiving a Ph.D. in Plant Pathology in 1960. He joined the faculty at the University of Montana-Missoula that same year as a professor in the Department of Botany. During his time as a professor at the University, Clancy Gordon was heavily involved with advancing the status of Environmental Studies on campus, founding the Environmental Studies laboratory in 1963 and helping to establish the Environmental Studies Gradate Program in 1970. He served as the first director of the new gradate program from 1970-1975. Gordon was a prolific author and researcher, often writing numerous articles and participating in a variety of research projects simultaneously. He was also a respected teacher who was able to communicate his message of environmental activism though informal and unconventional methods of instruction.

Clancy Gordon was equally active in the environmental movement outside of his capacity as a professor of Botany and Environmental Studies. Considered an expert on the effects of fluoride emissions and other air pollutants on plants, Gordon was an important witness in many legal cases and adversary hearings brought against major polluters during the 1960s and 1970s. His work involved him in controversial cases across Montana, the United States, Canada and even Europe, and pitted him squarely against such powerful corporations as the Montana Power Company, the Anaconda Company, Cominco, ASARCO, the Reynolds Metal Company, and the Virginia Electric and Power Company. His commitment to environmental activism earned him notoriety among the business community as a troublemaker, but his consistent professionalism, sense of humor and dedicated research also gained him the respect and loyalty of his colleagues, students and many of the public citizens he worked to protect from the dangers of pollution and environmental degradation.

Clancy Gordon died after a two-year battle with cancer on July 12, 1981, while still a faculty member at the University of Montana-Missoula. He was fifty-three years old.

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Content Description

This collection contains legal papers, reports, studies, publications, correspondence, clippings, raw and analyzed data, maps, photographs and slides, as well as other miscellaneous material related to research projects and environmental litigation in which Clarence C. Gordon was involved during his life. The vast majority of materials were created or compiled between Gordon’s appointment as professor of Botany at the University of Montana-Missoula in 1960 and his death in 1981, however, there is a small amount of material from before and after his twenty-one years at the University.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

Researchers are responsible for using in accordance with 17 U.S.C. and any other applicable statutes. Copyright not transferred to The University of Montana.

Preferred Citation

Clarence C. Gordon Papers, Archives and Special Collections, Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, The University of Montana--Missoula.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

The collection is divided into three series.

Series I, General Correspondence, contains incoming and outgoing correspondence created in large part during Gordon’s time at the University of Montana-Missoula. There is also a small group of papers related to Gordon’s career at the University, including faculty evaluations, vitas, publication lists, applications for sabbatical leave and some photographs. Included within much of the correspondence are related reports and clippings. Correspondence related to specific research subjects or litigation is often filed with other related materials in Series II. This series is arranged in folders alphabetically by correspondent.

Series II, Environmental Litigation and Research Papers, contains legal papers, reports, studies, publications, correspondence, clippings, raw and analyzed data, maps, photographs and slides, as well as other miscellaneous material related to research projects and environmental litigation which Clarence C. Gordon was involved in prior to and during his time as a professor of Botany at the University of Montana-Missoula. A significant amount of the materials in this series relate to controversy surrounding the building of two additional coal-burning power plants near Colstrip, Montana during the mid-1970s. Materials in this series are typically grouped by location, corporate name, or research subject. Related materials are usually housed in labeled folder storage boxes or binders. Occasionally, materials remain loose or have been foldered and labeled broadly by subject or location.

Series III, Slides, contains approximately seventeen thousand 35mm slides related to Clancy Gordon’s research of environmental issues during his time as a professor at The University of Montana-Missoula. Included are images of air pollution in Missoula and elsewhere, scenic and water pollution from litter and dumping, irrigation damage, microscopic images of cells, charts and graphs, as well as images supplementary to his involvement in environmental litigation against polluters. During processing the slides were left in their original metal storage cases, and remain in the numerical order assigned by the original processor. No index of the slides has been found, however, a limited number of images are described with labels. Arrangement The collection is divided into three series: Series I: General Correspondence, 1943-1982 and undated, 3 linear ft. Series II: Environmental Litigation and Research Papers, 1932-1982 and undated, 94 linear ft. Series III: Slides, undated, approximately 17,000 slides, 4 linear ft.

Acquisition Information

The Department of Botany at the University of Montana-Missoula donated this collection to the K. Ross Toole Archives in 1983 and 1988.

Processing Note

In Series I and III the materials remain in the exact order of the collection upon donation. Boxes in Series II were re-arranged by the processor in an attempt to more closely follow their original sequence. Within these boxes materials remain in their original folder storage boxes or in labeled binders. Original labels were copied and expanded upon to create the container list found in this finding aid. When material was overcrowded in its original container, a portion of it was removed and placed in appropriately labeled folders for preservation purposes. In some instances loose materials were placed in folders and labeled broadly by subject or location. In general, duplicates were removed from the collection.

An additional 20 linear feet of reports and data from Clancy Gordon's Environmental Science lab was donated to the Archives in 2007 and is not included in this finding aid. And inventory of the addition is available from Archives and Special Collections.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Botany--Study and teaching--Montana--Missoula
  • Coal-fired power plants--Environmental aspects--Montana--Colstrip
  • Environmental degradation
  • Environmental impact analysis
  • Environmental law
  • Human ecology--Study and teaching--Montana--Missoula
  • Pollution--Environmental aspects

Corporate Names

  • University of Montana (Missoula, Mont.)--Dept. of Botany
  • University of Montana (Missoula, Mont.)--Environmental Studies
  • University of Montana--Missoula--Faculty

Form or Genre Terms

  • Case files
  • Slides (Photographs)

Occupations

  • Botanists--Montana-Missoula
  • Botany teachers--Montana--Missoula
  • Environmental impact consultants--Montana--Missoula
  • Environmentalists--Montana--Missoula

Finding aid prepared by Jessie Nunn
2005

CC Attribution
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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