uarc00790 E. Paul Torrance Papers, 1957-1967 Karen Spilman University of Minnesota Libraries March 2005
University of Minnesota Libraries Minneapolis, MN 55455
EAD encoding by Karen Spilman March 2005 Finding aid written in English January 2010 EAD revised by Karen Spilman. Collection processed and box list added. University of Minnesota Libraries. University of Minnesota Archives [uarc] Torrance, E. Paul (Ellis Paul), 1915- E. Paul Torrance papers 1957-1967 2 boxes (2.0 cubic feet) Collection contains the papers of E. Paul Torrance, professor of educational psychology at the University of Minnesota; considered the father of creativity. uarc 790 Collection materials in English Administrative Information Use of Materials

Items in this collection do not circulate and may be used in-house only.

Copyright

Researchers may quote from the collection under the fair use provision of the copyright law (Title 17, U.S. Code). Requests to publish should be arranged with the University of Minnesota Archives.

 Preferred citation

E. Paul Torrance papers, University Archives, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.

Scope and Content

The collection contains professional papers and reports by E. Paul Torrance, papers submitted by former University of Minnesota students, graduate school progress reports and forms for creative tests, such as Verbal Form A to test creative thinking.

Biographical Sketch of Ellis Paul Torrance (1915-2003)

E. Paul Torrance, B.A. (1940) Mercer University, M.A. (1944) University of Minnesota, Ph.D. (1951) University of Michigan. Professor of educational psychology and director of the Bureau of Educational research at the University of Minnesota. Considered the father of creativity; developed benchmarks for quantifying creativity which proved that IQ is not the only measure of intelligence.

Ellis Paul Torrance was born in Milledgeville, Georgia on October 8, 1915. He earned his bachelor's degree from Mercer University in 1940, M.A. from the University of Minnesota in 1944, and Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 1951. Torrance joined the faculty at the University of Minnesota in 1957 as associate professor and director of educational research of the Bureau of Educational Research and General Education. In 1958, he was promoted to director of the Bureau of Educational Research, and held this post until 1966, when he accepted the position of professor of educational psychology at the University of Georgia. He retired from Georgia in 1984.

Torrance is known as "The Father of Creativity." He developing the benchmark method for quantifying creativity and invented the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking, which proved that the IQ test was not the only way to measure intelligence. Torrance completed the only known 40-year longitudinal study on creativity, done on 215 students that attended two Minneapolis elementary schools from 1958-1964. In 1984, the University of Georgia established the Torrance Center for Creative Studies. He authored of over 2,000 books, monographs, articles, reports, tests, manuals and instruction materials. E. Paul Torrance died on July 12, 2003.

 Related Materials

Millar, Garnet W. E. Paul Torrance, "The Creativity Man" : an Authorized Biography, 1995.

Raina, M. K. The Creativity Passion : E. Paul Torrance’s Voyages of Discovering Creativity, 2000.

The Georgia College & State University, Special Collections Library (Milledgeville, GA) also contains a collection of E. Paul Torrance's papers.

 Index Terms

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the University of Minnesota Libraries. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Torrance, E. Paul (Ellis Paul), 1915- -- Archives. Creative thinking. Gifted children -- Education -- United States. Detailed Contents

The following section contains a detailed list of the materials in the collection.

1 Programmed Experiences in Creative Thinking, 1962-1963. 3 folders 1 Scoring Manuals and Guides, 1960. 1 Scoring Manuals and Guides for Creative Thinking Tests, 1960-1964. 1 folder and 3 volumes 1 Non-Verbal Form A / Verbal Form A Tests of Creative Thinking, 1962. 1 Miscellaneous Blank Tests, undated. Publications and Reports 1 Factors in Fighter-Interceptor Pilot Combat Effectiveness, November 1957. 1 Secondary Schools Mathematics and Science, April 1958.

Bound together into one volume titled Research Memorandum.

 1 Developing Creative Thinking Through School Experiences, 1959. 1 Identifying and Using Creative Talent, 1959. 1 School Counselors and the Struggle for Men's Minds, February 1959. 1 Rewarding Creative Thinking: A Manual for Elementary Teachers, August 1959. 1 A Collection of Ideas for Developing the Creative Thinking Abilities Through Language Arts in the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Grades, February 1960. 1 Rewarding Creative Thinking, October 1960. 1 Assessing the Creative Thinking Abilities of Children, October 1960. 1 Curriculum Frontiers for the Elementary Gifted Pupil, 1961. 1 Status of Knowledge Concerning Education and Creative Scientific Talent, June 1961. 1 Improving Social Studies Education in Minnesota, September 1961. 1 Guiding Creative Talent, 1962. 1 Teaching Gifted Elementary Pupils How To Do Research, 1962. 1 The Minnesota Studies of Creative Thinking: 1959-1962. 1 Administration and Scoring Manual for Abbreviated form VII, October 1962. 2 Role of Evaluation in Creative Thinking, 1964. 2 Programmed Experiences in Creative Thinking, February 1964. 2 Revised Scoring Guide for Analyzing Attitudes Concerning Divergency in Imaginative Stories, February 1964. 2 Mental Health and Achievement: Increasing Potential and Reducing School Dropout, 1965. 2 Rewarding Creative Behavior: Experiments in Classroom Creativity, 1965. 2 Applications of Creativity Research in the Elementary School, September 1965. 2 Evaluation of Some Immediate Outcomes of the 1965 Principals Workshop on Problems of the Economically and Culturally Deprived Child, November 1965. 2 Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking: Norms-Technical Manual, 1966. 2 Characteristics of Mathematics Teachers that Affect Students' Learning, September 1966. 2 Minnesota Studies of Creative Behavior: 1958-1966, July 1967. 2 Understanding the Fourth Grade Slump in Creative Thinking, December 1967. 2 Miscellaneous Publications and Reports. 2 folders