E.

Paul Torrance Papers, 1957-1967

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Finding aid written in English

Describing Archives: A Content Standard

University Archives

uar@umn.edu
http://lib.umn.edu/uarchives
 E. Paul Torrance Papers, 1957-1967

Table Of Contents
Summary Information .............................................................................................................................. 3
Abstract ............................................................................................................................................... 3
Use of Materials .................................................................................................................................. 3
Copyright ............................................................................................................................................. 3
Preferred citation ................................................................................................................................. 3
Scope and Content ............................................................................................................................... 3
Biographical Sketch of Ellis Paul Torrance (1915-2003) ................................................................... 3
Related Materials ................................................................................................................................. 4
Language of Materials ......................................................................................................................... 4
Administrative Information ...................................................................................................................... 4
Collection Inventory ................................................................................................................................. 4

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 E. Paul Torrance Papers, 1957-1967

Summary Information

Collecting Area: University Archives

Creator: Torrance, E. Paul (Ellis Paul), 1915-2003
Title: E. Paul Torrance papers
Identifier: ua-00790
Date: 1957-1967
Physical 2.5 Cubic Feet (2 boxes)
Description:

Abstract
Collection contains the papers of E. Paul Torrance, professor of educational psychology at the University
of Minnesota; considered the father of creativity.

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

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 E. Paul Torrance Papers, 1957-1967

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.

Language of Materials
Collection materials in English

Administrative Information

Publication Statement
University Archives

uar@umn.edu
http://lib.umn.edu/uarchives

Controlled Access Headings

Creative thinking.
Gifted children -- Education -- United States.

Collection Inventory
Programmed Experiences in Creative Thinking, 1962-1963.
Box 1 (Mixed Materials)
Physical 3 folders
Description:

Scoring Manuals and Guides, 1960.

Box 1 (Mixed Materials)

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 E. Paul Torrance Papers, 1957-1967

Scoring Manuals and Guides for Creative Thinking Tests, 1960-1964.

Box 1 (Mixed Materials)
Physical 1 folder and 3 volumes
Description:

Non-Verbal Form A / Verbal Form A Tests of Creative Thinking, 1962.

Box 1 (Mixed Materials)

Miscellaneous Blank Tests, undated.

Box 1 (Mixed Materials)

Publications and Reports

Factors in Fighter-Interceptor Pilot Combat Effectiveness, November 1957.

Box 1 (Mixed Materials)

Secondary Schools Mathematics and Science, April 1958.

Box 1 (Mixed Materials)
Scope and Contents
Bound together into one volume titled Research Memorandum.

Developing Creative Thinking Through School Experiences, 1959.

Box 1 (Mixed Materials)

Identifying and Using Creative Talent, 1959.

Box 1 (Mixed Materials)

School Counselors and the Struggle for Men's Minds, February 1959.
Box 1 (Mixed Materials)

Rewarding Creative Thinking: A Manual for Elementary Teachers, August 1959.

Box 1 (Mixed Materials)

A Collection of Ideas for Developing the Creative Thinking Abilities Through Language Arts in
the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Grades, February 1960.
Box 1 (Mixed Materials)

Rewarding Creative Thinking, October 1960.

Box 1 (Mixed Materials)

Assessing the Creative Thinking Abilities of Children, October 1960.

Box 1 (Mixed Materials)

Curriculum Frontiers for the Elementary Gifted Pupil, 1961.

Box 1 (Mixed Materials)

Status of Knowledge Concerning Education and Creative Scientific Talent, June 1961.
Box 1 (Mixed Materials)

Improving Social Studies Education in Minnesota, September 1961.

Box 1 (Mixed Materials)

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 E. Paul Torrance Papers, 1957-1967

Guiding Creative Talent, 1962.

Box 1 (Mixed Materials)

Teaching Gifted Elementary Pupils How To Do Research, 1962.

Box 1 (Mixed Materials)

The Minnesota Studies of Creative Thinking: 1959-1962.

Box 1 (Mixed Materials)

Administration and Scoring Manual for Abbreviated form VII, October 1962.
Box 1 (Mixed Materials)

Role of Evaluation in Creative Thinking, 1964.

Box 2 (Mixed Materials)

Programmed Experiences in Creative Thinking, February 1964.

Box 2 (Mixed Materials)

Revised Scoring Guide for Analyzing Attitudes Concerning Divergency in Imaginative Stories,
February 1964.
Box 2 (Mixed Materials)

Mental Health and Achievement: Increasing Potential and Reducing School Dropout, 1965.
Box 2 (Mixed Materials)

Rewarding Creative Behavior: Experiments in Classroom Creativity, 1965.

Box 2 (Mixed Materials)

Applications of Creativity Research in the Elementary School, September 1965.

Box 2 (Mixed Materials)

Evaluation of Some Immediate Outcomes of the 1965 Principals Workshop on Problems of the
Economically and Culturally Deprived Child, November 1965.
Box 2 (Mixed Materials)

Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking: Norms-Technical Manual, 1966.

Box 2 (Mixed Materials)

Characteristics of Mathematics Teachers that Affect Students' Learning, September 1966.

Box 2 (Mixed Materials)

Minnesota Studies of Creative Behavior: 1958-1966, July 1967.

Box 2 (Mixed Materials)

Understanding the Fourth Grade Slump in Creative Thinking, December 1967.

Box 2 (Mixed Materials)

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 E. Paul Torrance Papers, 1957-1967

Miscellaneous Publications and Reports.

Box 2 (Mixed Materials)
Physical 2 folders
Description:

"Revised Originality Score for Evaluating Creative Writings", 1963

Box 2 (Mixed Materials)

"Administration and Scoring Guide for the Squares Test", 1963

Box 2 (Mixed Materials)

"Revised Scoring Guide For Analyzing Attitudes Concerning Divergency In Imaginative Stories",
1964
Box 2 (Mixed Materials)

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