G. Gunby Jordan II Collection (MC 397)
Biographical Note
George Gunby Jordan II was born on November 2, 1915 in Muscogee County, Georgia to Ralph Curtis Jordan and Louis Mott Mulford. He was named for his paternal grandfather. Jordan graduated from Yale University with a degree in History and returned home to Georgia in order to take over the family business, the Jordan Company. Gunby Jordan married Helen Smith Swift in 1938 and they had two children, G. Gunby III (1939-1942) and Randolph Swift (1942-2013). G. Gunby Jordan II was an avid golfer and developed the Green Island Hills golf club on what was once his family's farm. In the 1970s, he created the Green Island Invitational which became known as the Southern Open. In 1990, the Southern Open gained Buick as a sponsor and moved to Callaway Gardens in 1994 and became known as the Buick Southern Open. Jordan's love of golf also inspired a book he wrote called Caddies (1988) which sought stories and personal remembrances from caddies throughout the sport.
Helen Smith Swift was born March 13 1917 in Columbus, Georgia to George Parker Swift, III and Helen Vernon Smith. She attended Stuart Hall in Staunton, Virginia, Gunston Hall in Washington, D.C. and Finch College in New York. She married Gunby Jordan, II in June 1938 and they settled in Columbus, Georgia. Helen Jordan was an avid golfer like her husband and a member of several social organizations in Columbus.
Scope and Content
This collections contains scrapbooks of G. Gunby Jordan, school notebooks from Yale University, telegram scrapbook belonging to Helen Swift Jordan while in college, and the manuscript and correspondence relating to the publication of Caddies, the book by G. Gunby Jordan, II.
Permission to Publish
Permission to publish material from the G. Gunby Jordan II must be obtained from the Columbus State University Archives at Columbus State University. Use of the following credit line for publication or exhibit is required:
G. Gunby Jordan, II (MC 397) Columbus State University Archives Columbus, Georgia
Provenance
Collection donated in 2017 by Katherine Waddell
Note to Researchers
See also: Other Collections/Other repositories
Jordan Family Collection of Ephemera (SMC 122)
Betts/Taliaferro Collection (MC149)
Box and Folder/Item List
Box 1
Folder 1. Address Book Belonging to G. Gunby Jordan with contents; possibly for wedding invitations, 1938
Folder 2. Caddies" Book Manuscript and Submitted Stories
Folder 3. Letters to Gunby Jordan regarding his book Caddies, 1986-1989 This folder contains photo copies of letters from Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, and Gene Sarazen. There is also an original letter from the secretary of Donald Trump.
Folder 4. List of Names and Addresses for possible wedding Invite list for G. Jordan and Helen Swift, June 1938
Folder 5. Miscellaneous - Helen S. Jordan Citizen of the Year (2000), Columbus Magazine and Membership List for Lost Tree Village Golf Club
Folder 6. Unknown photograph of a woman with portrait of President F.D. Roosevelt
Folder 7. Yale University Course Work Booklets Belonging to G. Gunby Jordan, II, 1936-1937
Box 2
Loose Item 1. Black/Green photo album of Edith May Anderson Smith's family in England, 1880-1900
Loose Item 2. Black photo album of G. Gunby Jordan, II and Curtis on trip to England, 1934
Loose Item 3. Brown scrapbook belonging to Helen S. Jordan with telegrams and postcards assembled during her college years before wedding, 1935-1937
Loose Item 4. Set of Large photographs of Elizabeth M. Swift, wife of James Shorter and mother to Edward Shorter, c. 1900-1915
