Leon Truesdell Explained
Leon Edgar Truesdell (March 15, 1880 – January 12, 1979) was an American demographer. After graduating from Brown University, Truesdell became a high school principal. He began working for the United States federal government in 1911, within the Bureau of Fisheries. He also worked for the Census Bureau and the Department of Agriculture. Truesdell was a fellow of the American Statistical Association, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and president of the Population Association of America.
Early life and education
Leon Truesdell was a native of Rowe, Massachusetts, born on March 15, 1880, to parents Clarence and Lina V. Truesdell. He graduated from Leland and Gray Seminary in Townshend, Vermont, in 1903, and completed his bachelor's and master's of arts at Brown University in 1907. Truesdell obtained his Ph.D at the Robert Brookings Graduate School in 1928.[1]
Career
After graduating from Brown University, Truesdell served as a high school principal in New Hampshire and Massachusetts, while working with Brown faculty member Walter Goodnow Everett as a research assistant. Truesdell was hired by the Bureau of Fisheries in 1911, and quickly joined the Bureau of the Census, where he remained until 1914. Truesdell returned to the Census Bureau in 1919, following five years as a field assistant with the Department of Agriculture. He was the assistant chief of the agriculture division until his appointment as chief of the population division in 1925, a position he retained until 1948. Truesdell became chief demographer thereafter, and retired in 1955, but served as a consultant to the Census Bureau until 1967.[1] [2]
He was elected a fellow of the American Statistical Association in 1937.[3] The American Association for the Advancement of Science awarded him an equivalent honor in 1958.[4] Truesdell served as president of the Population Association of America from 1939 to 1940.[5]
Personal life
Truesdell was married to Constance Ethel Cole from 1916 to her death in 1957. The couple raised two daughters, Constance Emma and Miriam Helen. Truesdell died on January 12, 1979, at the Wisconsin Avenue Nursing Home in Washington, D.C.[1] [2]
A collection of Truesdell's papers is held in special collection by the Brown University Library.[6] [7] [8]
Selected publications
Notes and References
- News: Leon E. Truesdell papers (Ms. 2011.004): Biographical note . 17 August 2023 . Brown University Library.
- News: Leon E. Truesdell, Ex-Demography Chief at Census . 17 August 2023 . Washington Post . 22 January 1979.
- News: ASA Fellows . 17 August 2023 . American Statistical Association.
- Wolfle . Dael . AAAS Council Meeting . Science . 20 February 1958 . 129 . 3347 . 469–474 . 10.1126/science.129.3347.469 . 1757874.
- News: PAA Officers & Board Members: Past Presidents 1931–Present . 17 August 2023 . Population Association of America.
- News: Guide to the Leon E. Truesdell papers, 1882-1973 (bulk 1902-1970) . 17 August 2023 . Brown University Library.
- News: Leon E. Truesdell papers (Ms. 2011.004): Inventory . 17 August 2023 . Brown University Library.
- News: Leon E. Truesdell papers . 17 August 2023 . Brown University Library.
- Reviews of The Canadian Born in the United States include:
- Kalijarvi . Thorsten V. . TRUESDELL, LEON E. The Canadian Born in the United States. Pp. xvii, 263. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1943. $3.00 . The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science . September 1943 . 229 . 1 . 215–216 . 10.1177/000271624322900172.
- News: Woolbert . Robert Gale . The Canadian Born in the United States By Leon E. Truesdell Yale University Press, 1943, 263 pp. . 17 August 2023 . Foreign Affairs . October 1943.
- Berry . John W. . The Canadian Born in the United States. Leon E. Truesdell . American Journal of Sociology . November 1943 . 49 . 3 . 272 . 10.1086/219391.
- Hurd . W. Burton . The Canadian Born in the United States: An Analysis of the Statistics of the Canadian Element in the Population of the United States, 1850 to 1930 by Leon E. Truesdell, and: The American Born in Canada: A Statistical Interpretation by R. H. Coats, M. C. Maclean (review) . The Canadian Historical Review . December 1943 . 24 . 4 . 414–417 . 10.3138/chr-024-04-br02 .
- Caughey . John Walton . Review: The Canadian Born in the United States: An Analysis of the Statistics of the Canadian Element in the Population of the United States, 1850 to 1930, by Leon E. Truesdell and The American-Born in Canada: A Statistical Study, by R. H. Coats and M. C. MacLean . Pacific Historical Review . December 1943 . 12 . 4 . 427–428 . 10.2307/3634094. 3634094 .
- Warner . Florence M. . The Canadian Born in the United States. Leon E. Truesdell . Social Service Review . December 1945 . 19 . 4 . 579–580 . 10.1086/635609.
- Murphy . Larry J. . The Development of Punch Card Tabulation in the Bureau of the Census, 1890-1940 Leon Truesdell: Washington, U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, 1965 pp.xii + 221 illustrations $1.75 (clothbound) . Technology and Culture . July 1969 . 10 . 3 . 455–457 . 10.2307/3101703 . 3101703. 2027/mdp.39015072113361 . free .