John Richard Hoskins Papers, 1947-1989

Overview of the Collection

Creator
John Richard Hoskins, 1919-
Title
John Richard Hoskins Papers
Dates
1947-1989 (inclusive)
Quantity
6.5 cubic feet
Collection Number
MG357 (collection)
Summary
Correspondence, reports, and other material concerning field trips, short courses given at the Northwest Mining Association annual meetings, and other activities as head of the Mining Engineering and Metallurgy Department at the University of Idaho, as a professional engineer, and as a teacher.
Repository
University of Idaho Library, Special Collections and Archives
Special Collections and Archives
University of Idaho Library
875 Perimeter Drive
MS 2350
Moscow, ID
83844-2350
Telephone: 2088850845
libspec@uidaho.edu
Languages
English
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Biographical NoteReturn to Top

John Richard (Jack) Hoskins was born June 9, 1919 in Brewster, Washington. After graduating from the University of Idaho with a B.S. in Mining Engineering in 1947, he was employed as plant engineer and department superintendent for the U.S. Gypsum Company, Evans, Washington, mining and processing limestone into building materials. He left there in 1949 to work with ASARCO in Santa Barbara, Mexico, where he was employed as staff mining engineer and later mine shift boss and mine foremen in a one-thousand-ton-a-day lead, zinc, copper, and gold operation. In 1952 he went to the University of Alaska where he taught Mining Engineering for five years. Leaving Alaska in 1957, he continued his studies in applied mechanics, mathematics, and mining engineering at Virginia Polytechnic Institute under a special grant from the National Science Foundation. After completing his work at Virginia Tech in 1959, he attended the University of Utah at Salt Lake City where he completed his Ph.D. in 1962. He then moved to Denver to work as Mining Methods Research Engineer for the U.S. Bureau of Mines.He came to the University of Idaho in 1967 as Professor of Mining Engineering and the following year he became head of the Department of Mining Engineering and Metallurgy in the College of Mines and Earth Resources (COMER).

Hoskins is the author of many publications and presentations, and has worked on numerous research projects in rock mechanics, explosives, drilling and blasting, mine ventilation and health and safety. A member of the American Institute of Mining Engineers, he served as Education Chairman and Program Chairman in the Alaska Section. He has also served on the Education Committee and Educational Board of the Society of Mining Engineers and was the American Institute of Mining Engineers representative to the Engineers' Council for Professional Development. He has also held membership in the American Society of Engineering Education Minerals Division, the Northwest Mining Association, The American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Association of University Professors, the Idaho Academy of Science, and the Idaho Mining Association. He has been named an Outstanding Educator of America and has been honored by the Northwest Mining Association, the Society of Mining Engineers, the U.S. Bureau of Mines Spokane Research Center, University of Idaho Mining Students, and the Northwest Mining Association. He retired from the University of Idaho in 1989.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The papers of John R. Hoskins span the years 1947 to 1989, with the bulk of the material covering the years 1968 to 1986.

The papers include administrative files reflecting his activities as head of the Mining Engineering and Metallurgy department, material related to his teaching, other papers concerned with his professional activities, non administrative correspondence, and other material.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Arrangement

Some of the material in this record group was in labeled folders, other items were unfoldered or otherwise unidentified. With the exception of the administrative correspondence the papers were in no apparent order; therefore a series order was imposed during processing. Available folder headings were retained.

The first series reflects Dr. Hoskins' activities as department administrator and includes accreditation reports, information on several cooperative programs with Washington State University, and an alphabetical correspondence file. Spanning the years 1985 to 1987, the file contains copies of all outgoing departmental letters and occasional incoming letters. Also included are enrollment statistics, equipment and space allocation concerns, information on the various fellowships and scholarships available to students and which students received them, minutes of college and departmental meetings, and copies of research and grant proposals submitted by faculty members.

The second series concerns teaching activities and includes a class register, course evaluations and outlines, information on student field trips to mining companies, lecture notes, reserve room reading files and student papers.

Contained in the third series are the materials concerning Dr. Hoskins' professional interests. These include notes on the Senate Energy Committee hearings in Coeur d'Alene in 1986, correspondence and research notes on the cost of uranium mining collected for use by the legal firm representing the General Atomic Company in its arbitration suit against the United Nuclear Corporation, and information compiled for the short courses which he designed for the annual meetings of the Northwest Mining Association.

The general correspondence in series four contains many letters from congressional representatives, including Steve Symms, James McClure, and Tom Foley. Another group of correspondence reflects his interest in education in the mineral industry. Other letters were written to obtain information for his Minerals and Man course, or to give information to a correspondent about miners' lamps. The "Gimme" letters are requests to industry for equipment.

The final series contains material on Alaska lands, appointment calendars for the years 1977 to 1989, reprints of articles on various subjects, a copy of the SME-AIME guide to minerals schools which is interleaved with updated information, a proposal for a new calendar written by colleague C.E. Gregory in 1972 and information on technical writing.

Published material was sent to subject librarians for review and duplicate copies of near print materials were also removed from the collection, thus reducing the bulk by 3 cubic feet.

Acquisition Information

The papers of mining professor John Richard Hoskins were donated to the University of Idaho Library in July 1989.

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Series I. Administrative Files , 1968-1989Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
1/1
Academic Administrators Workshop
11 items
1980
1/2-3
Accreditation ECPD (Engineers' Council for Professional Development)
41 items
1975-1980
1/4-8
Accreditation ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology)
150 items
1980-1988
1/9
COMER publications and brochures
10 items
ca. 1980-1985
1/10-11
Cooperation with Washington State University
32 items
1974-1986
1/12
Coal Research Lab
33 items
1977-1979
1/13
Cooperative work study
12 items
1970-1988
1/14-20
Correspondence and memos
488 items
1985
1/21-28
Correspondence and memos
670 items
1986
2/29-38
Correspondence and memos
633 items
1987
2/39
Course development
4 items
1979-1984
2/40-42
Course evaluations
121 items
1974/1975-1987/1988
2/43
Course outlines
19 items
1976-1989
2/44
Crisis plans
11 items
1974-1986
2/45-46
Data on faculty, students and department
43 items
1968-1988
2/47-49
Enrollment statistics
57 items
1968/1969-1987/1988
2/50
Equipment
34 items
1974-1988
2/51
Equipment: x-ray
26 items
1981-1985
2/52-53
Evaluations, tenure, and competency reviews
71 items
1970-1988
2/54-55
Fellowships and scholarships, General
137 items
1974-1981
2/56
Bunker Hill
10 items
1976-1981
2/57-60
Health, Education & Welfare Domestic Mining and Mineral and Mineral Fuel Conservation
201 items
1975-1977
3/61-64
Health, Education & Welfare Domestic Mining and Mineral and Mineral Fuel Conservation
109 items
1978-1982
3/65
Mitson
3 items
1975
3/66-67
Mineral Industry Educational Foundation
162 items
1971-1982
3/68
Newmont
42 items
1975-1979
3/69
Graduate Program Defense
22 items
1986-1987
3/70
Honorary degree nominations
24 items
1973-1978
3/71
INEL & NRTS education program
40 items
1969-1986
3/72
Materials-Metallurgy proposal
5 items
1985
3/73
Materials science
65 items
1982-1988
3/74-76
Meetings: COMER
62 items
1976-1988
3/77-81
COMER Advisory Board
68 items
1983-1985
3/82-85
COMER Executive Committee
195 items
1981-1987
3/86-90
Department of Mining Engineering and Metallurgy
150 items
1978-1989
3/91-95
Mining and Minerals Resources Research Institute
170 items
1977-1981
4/96
Old curriculum forms
8 items
1971/1972-1977/1978
4/97
Ph.D. information
9 items
1970-1989
4/98
Position descriptions
8 items
1986
4/99
Recruiting
5 items
1981-1986
4/100-104
Research proposals and grant requests
31 items
1968-1984
4/105
Samuel S.M. Chan
59 items
1970-1978
4/106
Reduction of high mine resistance values in underground metal mines
29 items
1972-1973
4/107
Ventilation studies and escape plans for mines in the Coeur d'Alene district of Idaho
17 items
1972-1973
4/108
Copper wire
8 items
1976
4/109
Data base for mine fire symposium
3 items
1975-1976
4/110
Grant from the U.S. Congress
4 items
1986
4/111
Salary surveys, national
12 items
1979-1987
4/112
Salary surveys, University of Idaho
20 items
1975-1986/1987
4/113-115
Space needs
66 items
1971-1988
4/116
ABET problems
1 item
1985
4/117
Laboratory rehabilitation
37 items
1981
4/118
Student information
30 items
1976-1986
4/119
"The supply and demand for mining engineers"
1 item
1982
4/120
University core curriculum
15 items
1984
4/121
WICHE
18 items
1983-1988
4/122
Work plans (5 year plan)
4 items
1977-1978

Series II. Teaching and Related Material , 1970-1984Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
4/123
Class register
1 item
1975-1978
4/124
Course evaluations
5 items
1982
4/125
Course outline, Mining 400
18 items
1982
4/126
Course outline, Mining 499
3 items
1983
4/127-128
Field trips: planning and correspondence
132 items
1970-1981
4/129
Bethlehem Copper Company
2 items
ca. 1975
4/130
Craigmont Mines
8 items
ca. 1975
4/131
Lornex
12 items
ca. 1975
4/132
Similkameen Mining Company
3 items
ca. 1975
4/133
Teck Corporation
3 items
ca. 1975
4/134
Cominco
23 items
1979
4/135
Kaiser Resources
5 items
1979
4/136
Boundary Dam project
2 items
1980
4/137
Giant Mascot Mine
5 items
1980
5/138
Home Economics School Days talk
10 items
1984
5/139
Lecture notes
5 items
ca. 1981
5/140-141
Reserve reading, Mining and Metals 110: Acid rain
69 items
1966-1984
5/142
Reserve reading: Oil Shale
14 items
1973-1974
5/143-145
Student papers: Oil Shale
5 items
1977
5/146
Mining 110
1 item
undated
5/147
Mines 502
2 items
1980-1983
5/148
Visiting lecture series
9 items
1981-1983

Series III. Professional Activities , 1963-1989Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
5/149
American Institute of Mining Engineers. Council of Education
11 items
1977-1978
5/150
AIME Annual Meeting programs
3 items
1982-1986
5/151
Armour Institute data
4 items
1963
5/152
Career guidance, recruitment
5 items
1967-1972
5/153
Senate Energy Committee hearings, Coeur d'Alene
1 item
1986
5/154-160
General Atomic Company vs. United Nuclear Corporation. Correspondence and related data
162 items
1978-1980
5/161
Generic Institute
1 item
1985
5/162
National Council of Engineering Examiners. Questions
9 items
ca. 1979
5/163
National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum
35 items
1986-1989
5/164
Northwest Mining Association
9 items
1985
5/165
Education
8 items
1982-1984
5/166
Session on Education's changing role
17 items
1984
5/167
Short course: Mining Cost Estimates
71 items
1976
5/168-171
Short course: Mineral Regulations and Permits
126 items
1977
5/172-173
Short course: Mineral industry costs
25 items
1986
5/174
Training sessions
8 items
1980
5/175
Workshop: Are you listening
3 items
1982
6/176
Paper reviewed
11 items
1965
6/177
Papers and talks by John Hoskins
5 items
1975-1982
6/178
Society of Mining Engineers
23 items
1973-1987
6/179
Session: Underground mining
23 items
1987
6/180
Spokane Mining and Research Center. Travel vouchers
27 items
1976-1982
6/181
Minneapolis trip
16 items
1978
6/182
Correspondence, evaluations, pay stubs, diary
62 items
1977-1982
6/183
Washington D.C. trip
27 items
1985
6/184
Washington D.C. trip
19 items
1987

Series IV. Correspondence , 1968-1989Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
6/185-189
General correspondence
239 items
1968-1989
6/190
Bureau of Mines budget
8 items
1985
6/191
Education in the mineral industry
47 items
1969-1971
6/192
Eugene Skinner
12 items
1986-1988
6/193
"Gimme" (requests)
18 items
1975-1986
6/194
Minerals and man course
23 items
1982
6/195
Miners' lamps
9 items
1969
6/196
Possible students
35 items
1974-1975
6/197
Visiting speakers
33 items
1968-1987

Series V. Other Material , 1947-1989Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
6/198
Alaska lands
11 items
1979-1987
6/199-204
Appointment calendars
126 items
1977-1989
6/205
Articles and talks by others
6 items
1978-1986
6/206
Articles : Silver
4 items
1968-1976
6/207
Brochures
8 items
1968-1988
6/208
Career opportunities in mining and metallurgy
1 item
1983
6/209-212
Explosives - Shaped charges
77 items
1947-1956
6/213
Gillette, Wyoming
2 items
1979
6/214
Mineral industry
6 items
1976-1985
6/215
Mineral industry of Idaho
6 items
1961-1983
6/216
"My conservative file"
22 items
1972-1982
7/217
"Philosophy, psychology, logic
36 items
1930-1970
7/218
Plasticity statics
3 items
undated
7/219
References (bibliographies)
16 items
undated
7/220
SME-AIME guide to minerals schools, with additional information
1 item
1981
7/221
Stress around openings
7 items
1933-1963
7/222
The time is now beckoning to frame a proper frame of time reckoning, by Dr. C.E. Gregory
1 item
1972
7/223
Vita of John R. Hoskins
1 item
1977
7/224
Wilderness vs. minerals
7 items
1970
7/225
Writing
15 items
1977-1985
7/226
Technical Writers Institute, Denver, Colorado
21 items
1967

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Corporate Names

  • University of Idaho. Dept. of Mining Engineering and Metallurgy

Other Creators

  • Personal Names
    • Hoskins, John R.--Archives.