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GRACE (1921-1971) AND JOHN VINCENT HOEMAN (1936-1969). Papers; 1952-1979. 8.25 cu. ft. Inventory.
John Vincent "Vin" Hoeman was born in Murray, Kentucky, in 1936. He received a degree in forestry management from Colorado State University in 1958. Vin first came to Alaska in 1960 while serving in the U. S. Army at forts Richardson and Greely. He then worked for the Arctic Health Research Center in Anchorage and the Smithsonian Institution (Pacific Project). Vin started mountain climbing in 1949, scaled the highest points in all 50 states, and reached both summits of Mt. McKinley in 1963. He also served as the president of the Mountaineering Club of Alaska, and did extensive research on climbing in Alaska and the Yukon Territory. Vin Hoeman died in an avalanche on Mt. Dhaulagiri, Nepal, in 1969. Grace Jansen Hoeman was born in Silver Beach, Washington, in 1921. She was educated in Holland and Germany, receiving medical degrees from the University of Berlin (M. B., 1944) and the University of Utrecht (M. D., 1948). Grace returned to the U. S. in 1950 and worked as a physician in upstate New York before earning a master's degree in public health from Yale University in 1953. She then taught preventive medicine before entering a residency (1960-1962) and assistant professorship (1962-1965) in anesthesiology at Syracuse Hospital Upstate Medical Center. She came to Anchorage, Alaska, in 1965, where she met and married Vin Hoeman. She was an experienced mountaineer and led an all women's expedition of Mt. McKinley in 1970. Grace Hoeman died in an avalanche on Eklutna Glacier in 1971.
The collection consists of the personal papers of Alaskan mountaineers Grace and Vin Hoeman. The collection is divided into nine series: 1) biographical materials, 2) correspondence, 3) family, climbing and miscellaneous correspondence, 4) writings, 5) climbing and subject files, 6) mountaineering club records, 7) photographs, 8) index card files, and 9) Alaska topographic quadrangle maps. The biographical materials include climbing journals, notebooks, and papers relating to Vin's education, employment and military service. The correspondence concerns family, friends, climbing expeditions, and fellow climbers, largely related to Vin's research for a guidebook on climbing in Alaska and the Yukon Territory. The writings include manuscripts and research materials concerning Vin's Alaska guidebook and climbing articles. The climbing and subject files contain information on summits, state high points, climbing expeditions, and other related topics. The mountaineering club records concern the Mountaineering Club of Alaska (constitutions, geographic names committee, letters, etc.), the Ladies' Alpine Club, the Alaska Section of the American Alpine Club, and the Alaska Alpine Club (journal issues). The photographic images in the collection consist of 256 black and white prints, 20 color prints, 137 black and white negatives, 12 color slides, and 5 other color transparencies, most of which concern mountain climbing. The index card files consist of copies of Vin's cards on mountain peaks and individual climbers.
The collection was presented to the archives by the Mountaineering Club of Alaska in 2006.
HMC-0887
JAS (11/2006)