Access
Use
Acquisition Information
Preferred Citation
Alternative Forms of Material Available
Biographical/Historical Note
Scope and Content of Collection
Arrangement
Related Materials
Title: R.A.F.
Penrose
miscellaneous correspondence
Date (inclusive): 1897-1928
Collection Number: 2005C23
Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
1 manuscript box
(0.4 Linear Feet)
Abstract: Consists primarily of letters received from Herbert Hoover, relating to international mining, World War I Belgian relief,
and American politics.
Creator:
Hoover, Herbert, 1874-1964
Creator:
Penrose
, R. A. F.
Physical Location: Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Access
The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual
or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.
Use
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Acquisition Information
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 2004.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], R.A.F.
Penrose
miscellaneous correspondence, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Alternative Forms of Material Available
Several of the letters in this collection are reproduced in the book,
Life and Letters of R.A.F.
Penrose
,
edited by Helen R. Fairbanks and Charles P. Berkey (New York: Geological Society of America, 1952).
Biographical/Historical Note
1863, December 17 |
Born, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
1885 |
Obtains Ph.D. from Harvard University |
1886-1888 |
Manager of mines, Anglo-Canadian Phosphate Company |
Circa 1880s-1890s |
Works as field geologist, best known for his work of surveying mines and claims at Cripple Creek, Colorado (1894-1895) |
1892-1911 |
Associate, and later full, Professor of Economic Geology, University of Chicago |
1895-1903 |
Co-founder, and later president, Commonwealth Mining and Milling Company, Territory of Arizona |
1899-1915 |
Director of Cripple Creek Sampling and Ore Company, Colorado; member of executive committee of the Hanover Bessemer Iron Ore
Association, Fierro, New Mexico
|
1903 |
Co-founds Utah Copper Company, which subsequently develops the Bingham Canyon mine |
1920-1921 |
Founder and first president, Society of Economic Geologists |
1930 |
Elected President, Geological Society of America |
1931, July 31 |
Dies, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
Scope and Content of Collection
The R.A.F.
Penrose
miscellaneous correspondence consists primarily of letters received from Herbert Hoover, relating to international mining
and World War I Belgian relief, as well as related correspondence from others about Hoover and his activities, such as Belgian
relief and Hoover's campaign for the presidency in 1928.
Hoover's first contact with
Penrose
appears to have been during his days as a geology student at Stanford University. The earliest correspondence from Hoover
to
Penrose
in this collection, however, dates from 1897, two years after Hoover's graduation, when he sought a recommendation letter
from
Penrose
for a job he was applying for: that of a mining engineer with the British firm of Bewick, Moreing and Company. Hoover's successive
appointments with Bewick, Moreing in Western Australia and in China laid the foundation for his successful career as a mining
engineer, and several of his letters to
Penrose
detail his earliest activities, plans, and ambitions in these places. In addition, Hoover provided detailed descriptions
of mining prospects, wrote to
Penrose
seeking recommendations on staff to hire, and on one occasion asked
Penrose
for information regarding gold deposits in Colorado, which
Penrose
had surveyed during the previous decade.
The collection was acquired in 2004 from Custodians of History, in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
Sources:
Dictionary of American Biography, 1936; Website, National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum, www.mininghalloffame.org/ , accessed May 2011.
Arrangement
The R.A.F.
Penrose
Miscellaneous correspondence collection is divided into two series: Correspondence, Herbert Hoover to R.A.F.
Penrose
; and Other correspondence related to Herbert Hoover. Both series are arranged chronologically.
Related Materials
Sir Alfred Chester Beatty correspondence, Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Bewick, Moreing and Company miscellaneous records, Hoover Institution Library & Archives
William Joseph Loring papers, Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Broken Hill Mines, engravings, Hoover Institution Library & Archives
R.A.F.
Penrose
correspondence and papers, American Philosophical Society
Pre-Commerce papers, Herbert Hoover papers, Herbert Hoover Presidential Library, West Branch, IA
Subjects and Indexing Terms
World War, 1914-1918 -- Civilian relief
Mines and mineral resources
United States -- Politics and government -- 1923-1929
Commission for Relief in Belgium (1914-1930)