Jerald Tyrell Teesdale (1924-2007) was a lifelong resident of Madison, Wisconsin, eventually occupying the family home where he grew up in the village of Shorewood Hills. Teesdale was the younger of two children of Lawrence (Laurence) Victor Teesdale and Gladys Teesdale. They also had a daughter named Patricia. Lawrence Teesdale was employed by the Forest Products Laboratory in Madison from the early 1930s through the 1970s.
As a youth, Jerald Teesdale attended the 1933 Chicago World's Fair, staying with his Uncle Clyde and Aunt Bessie who lived in Chicago as well as spending summers at Woodcraft Camp in Wautoma, Wisconsin. Teesdale kept a dairy of his time at the fair and at camp.
In 1943, Teesdale entered the United States Navy, completing his basic training in Company 1133 at the United States Naval Training Center in Great Lakes, Illinois. Following his service in the Navy, Teesdale returned to Woodcraft Camp working as part of the staff.
Teesdale was an amateur photographer, antique gun collector, and antique automobile enthusiast. His photographs document the architecture in and around Madison, Saxeville, Vermont Township, Belleville, Columbia and Sauk Cities, Auroraville, and many historic sites throughout the state of Wisconsin. He also took an interest in photographing local construction projects in Shorewood Hills and the Primrose School as well as his interests in guns and automobiles.
