James G. Todd, Jr. Papers, 1985-2022

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Todd, James G., Jr., 1937-
Title
James G. Todd, Jr. Papers
Dates
1985-2022 (inclusive)
Quantity
1.5 linear feet and 9 monographs, (3 digital files (2.34 GB))
Collection Number
Mss 481 (collection)
Summary
James Gilbert Todd, Jr. was a professor of art and humanities at The University of Montana from 1970 to 2000. This collection contains publications, artwork, videos, and classroom instruction materials.
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
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Biographical NoteReturn to Top

James Gilbert Todd, Jr. was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Oct. 12, 1937. He spent part of his childhood in Seattle, Washington. Todd attended the College of Great Falls, Montana, from 1956-1959. From 1959-1961, he attended both the Art Institute of Chicago and the University of Chicago, before returning the to College of Great Falls in 1963. Todd completed his B.A. in 1964. Todd continued his education at the University of Montana, receiving an MA degree in 1965, and a MFA degree in 1969. Todd also lived in Germany during the 1960s and worked as a newspaper illustrator and art instructor.

Todd began teaching in 1969 at Okaloosa-Walton Jr. College, in Niceville, Florida. In 1970 he returned to Montana to teach at the University of Montana. He taught a variety of classes, specializing in wood engraving and the social history of art. James Todd's art works include: the book Fire in the Bushes by Patrick Todd (7 illustrations) in 1977; the book A Radiant Map of the World by Rick Newby (5 illustrations) in 1981; the book Still Another Day by Pablo Neruda (portrait of Neruda) in 1983; Images from Leipzig-1991-92; the catalog Engravers Two by Simon Brett (print on pp.82-83) in 1992; and the novel Woman Who Lives in the Earth by Swain Wolfe (14 illustrations) in 1995.

James Gilbert Todd became an elected member in two international British organizations, the Society of Wood Engravers in 1986, and the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers in 1997. He retired in 2000 and is currently Professor Emeritus of Art and Humanities.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

This collection contains publications, artwork, a video, and classroom instruction materials. The collection has both original and print artwork, 1988-2002. The collection also contains Todd's fine arts presentation to the 13th Annual National Conference on Liberal Arts and Education of Artists at New York, in 2000, entitled, "Hitler: Artist as Dictator."

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

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

[Name of document or photograph number], James G. Todd, Jr. Papers, Archives and Special Collections, Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, The University of Montana--Missoula.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Arrangement

The collection is divided into four series:

Series I: Publications, 0.2 linear feet and 9 monographs, 1989-2022

Series II: Artwork, 0.2 linear feet, 1988-2020

Series III: Manuscripts, 2 folders, 2000 and undated

Series IV: Audio and Video Materials, 5 items, 1980-2012

Series V: Classroom and Teaching Materials, 1.0 linear feet, 1972-2016

Custodial History

The materials in this collection remained with the creator until donation to Archives and Special Collections.

Acquisition Information

Gift of James Todd, 1988, 2002, 2005, 2011, 2012, 2016, 2017, 2020, 2022.

Processing Note

In 2002, the collection was processed for the first time. Four separate donations from Todd were integrated to create one collection.

Separated Materials

The monographs, Remembrances of a Great Falls Jazz Trumpeter - John Huber , Hussman's Inc, (1917-1977), Pioneers of the Unseen, Jazz Icons, Messages from Montana, Trading Eights: the Faces of Jazz and Looney Toones: World War II Drawings, 1941-1945, Interpretive Wood Cuts, 2000-2016 are considered part of the Todd collection but have been cataloged for and physically placed into the Mansfield Library's Special Collections. Here We Are: Engravings by Members of the Wood Engravers Network, was originally included with collection materials and was transferred to Special Collections in 2002.

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Series I:  Publications, 1989-2022Return to Top

0.2 linear feet and 9 monographs

This series contains journal articles and monographs written or illustrated by Todd. It also contains a folder of material related to his publication Trading Eights. Five articles were published in Art & Academe: "The Liberal Education of Studio Artists in the Post-Modern Age", 1989; "The Ethical and Aesthetic Education of Artists in the 1990's", 1991; "Varieties of Modernism", 1993; "The Russian Avant-Garde: A Tale of the Cold War", 1996; and "Some Thoughts on Art at the Millennium", 1998. Todd published one article in The Montana Professor, "The Crisis of Modernism" in Last Best Place, 1995, "James Todd Retrospective: 1941-2002," Jan. 18 - Mar. 30, 2002, Art Museum of Missoula, and "The Wood Engravings of Jim Westergard" in The Private Library, Volume 8:2, Summer 2005.

In 2020, biographical information about Todd, which was published in the print and online versions of the international encyclopedia Allgemeines Kuenstler Lexikon (AKL), was added to this series.

The monographs, Here We Are: Engravings by Members of the Wood Engravers Network (1999), Messages from Montana (2004), Remembrances of a Great Falls Jazz Trumpeter - John Huber (2007), Hussman's Inc, (1917-1977) (2008), Pioneers of the Unseen (2011), Jazz Icons (2012), Trading Eights: the Faces of Jazz (2016), Looney Toones: World War II Drawings, 1941-1945, Interpretive Wood Cuts, 2000-2016 (2017), and Separations (2022) are considered part of the Todd collection but have been cataloged for and physically placed into Special Collections.

This series is arranged chronologically.
Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
1/1
Art & Academe
1989
1/2
Art & Academe
1991
1/3
Art & Academe
1993
1/4
The Montana Professor
1995
1/5
Art & Academe
1996
1/6
Art & Academe
1998
1/7
James Todd Retrospective: 1941-2002
2002
1/8
The Private Library
2005
1/9
Trading Eights, Review and Ephemera
2016-2017
1/20
Biographical submission to Allgemeines Kuenstler Lexikon (German Artists Encyclopedia) and English translation
2020

Series II:  Artwork , 1988-2020Return to Top

3 folders

This series contains fifteen original works Todd contributed to the compilation of Last Best Place. The drawings feature fifteen notable people in Montana history: Chief Charlot, Andrew Garcia, J.J. Audubon, William Clark, Meriwether Lewis, Joseph K. Howard, Norman MacLean, Charles Russell, Richard Hugo, Joseph Welch, Dan Cushman, Myron Brinig, Ivan Dioq, Taylor Gordon, and Thomas McGuane. Other artwork includes prints of Hannah Hoech and Mulligan and Monk, 1994, featured in Wood Engraving: Here and Now, a program for the Seventy-Fifth Anniversary Exhibition of The Society of Wood Engravers in 1995. The program also features biographical information for Todd and a statement of his beliefs about the importance of wood engraving. Todd's work, St. Petersburg, is featured in Wood Engraving: A Newsprint Edition, 2002. Todd discusses his visit to Russia in 1995 along with the inspiration for St. Petersburg.

This series is arranged chronologically.
Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
5/1
Original artwork for Last Best Place
1988
1/10
Wood Engraving: Here and Now, Hannah Hoech"
print 1995
1/11
Wood Engraving: A Newsprint Edition, St. Petersburg"
print 2002
5/2
Reproductions of an original ink and pencil drawing series entitled On the Road to Fascism in the USA
Artist's note: this folder "contains drawings done in July and August 2020 while quarantined at home during the pandemic. I have feared for many years that our nation was headed in this direction. The ink and pencil drawings are political caricatures of the current Washington DC officials who in my opinion have been instrumental in this late stage of our democratic decline."
2020

Series III:  Manuscripts , 2000 and undatedReturn to Top

2 folders

This series contains Todd's fine arts presentation, Hitler: Artist as Dictator, given to the School of Visual Arts at the 13th Annual National Conference on Liberal Arts and Education of Artists, in New York City. Todd discusses the importance of art in Hitler's life and the stigma attached to art from the Nazi era. Included with the manuscript are eleven copies of Hitler's artwork spanning form 1910-1938. Also included is a manuscript outline of a book Todd considered writing but ultimately decided would take too much time away from his art.

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
1/12
Hitler: Artist as Dictator
2000
1/13
Introduction to the Social History of the Visual Arts, outline of book proposal
undated

Series IV:  Audio and Video Materials, 1980-2012Return to Top

7 items

This series contains audio and video of James Todd, including a video of Todd demonstrating his wood engraving and printing technique and two interviews with Todd.

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
4
"Humanities Lecture"
audiocassette
February 14, 1980
electronic_file
Electronic File
Wood Engraving and Printing
The original video was created on the U-matic videocassette format. The original media is unavailable; the copy in this collection is an electronic file. Please contact Archives and Special Collections to view the video.
1985
Box/Folder
4
Studio Tulsa interview
audiocassette
February 14, 1995
3/1
Crit. Adv., lecture
VHS tape
1996
3/2
"Greek Art, LS 151," lecture
VHS tape
September 16, 1999
electronic_file
Electronic File
"Jazz Icons," interview at Holter Museum of Art Education Department
September 8, 2012
Electronic File
"Blind Mexican Musicians," interview
undated

Series V:  Classroom and Teaching Materials, 1972-2016Return to Top

1.0 linear feet

This series contains material related to Todd's teaching of art history courses at the University of Montana, including audiocassettes of a 1999 course. Two folders of material are restricted because they contain student papers submitted to Todd.

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
1/14
Art 305: Social History of Art, Facpac
1989
1/15
Art 203: Intro to Art Criticism, Facpac
2000
1/16
Art: Varieties of Modernism, Facpac
2000
1/17
Summary Outline of the Social History of Art: Art Criticism 203 and 303, manuscript
2016
1/18
Suggested Readings List
undated
1/19
Summary Outline of the Social History of Art: Art Criticism 203 and 303
undated
4
Social History of Art, recorded lectures and student discussion
audiocassettes
1999
2/1
Papers on Indian Studies and Indian Mythology, Student Papers
RESTRICTED - student papers, potential cultural sensitivity issues
1975-1991
2/2
Trail of Broken Treaties, Student Journals
RESTRICTED - student papers
1972
2/3
Scans of restricted student papers
RESTRICTED - student papers
1972-1991

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Personal Names

  • Hitler, Adolf, 1889-1945

Corporate Names

  • University of Montana--Missoula--Faculty

Occupations

  • Artists--Montana--Missoula