Manuscript Collections - John Flesher Newsom Papers

JOHN FLESHER NEWSOM PAPERS, 1882-1928
 2 linear feet, 2 linear inches (5 manuscript boxes)
Herbert Hoover Presidential Library

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

John Flesher Newsom, geology professor and mining engineer, was born on September 6, 1869 in Elizabethtown, Indiana. Newsom graduated from Indiana University in 1891 and went to Stanford where he was a classmate of Herbert Hoover. He was an assistant professor of geology at Indiana University before returning to Stanford as a geology professor in 1899. Newsom earned his doctorate from Stanford in 1901, remaining there until 1909, when he became a consulting engineer for the Yukon Gold Company. His work led him to Alaska, Malaysia, and South America. Newsom dies of a stroke on October 25, 1928.

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

The collection contains class notes taken while Newsom was a student, lecture notes from Newsom as an instructor, articles, correspondence, photographs, and business cards. The main topics documented in the collection include: mining education, science education, Stanford University, and Herbert Hoover. The collection has been subdivided into four subgroups: student notes, lecture notes, personal files, and photographs. Student notes include two notebooks from Henry Stephenson, a geology student at Ohio State University in 1894. Stephenson’s connection to Newsom is not clear. Lecture notes also include copies of Herbert Hoover’s 1909 geology lectures. The materials are arranged alphabetically with the exception of the student notes which are arranged chronologically.

FOLDER LIST

Box Contents

1

Student Notes – Indiana University

Chemistry, 1889
Geology, 1889
Mineralogy, 1890
Paleontology, 1890
Physiology, 1890
Botany, 1891

Student Notes – Stanford University

Economic Geology, 1893 (2 folders)
Historical Geology, 1893 (2 folders)

2

Paleontology, 1893

Student Notes – Ohio State University – Henry Stephenson Notes on Edward Orton Geology Lectures, 1894 (2 folders)
Lecture Notes

Blasting, undated
Building Construction, 1898
Development of Mining, undated
Drilling and Blasting, 1907
Excavation of Earth and Rock, 1898
Excavation and Rock Work, undated

3

Explosives, 1898
Metallurgy, undated (2 folders)
Mine Administration, undated
Mine Evaluation, undated
Mine Evaluation – Draft, undated
Mine Plant, undated
Mining General View, undated
Mining General View – Draft, undated

4

Occurrence and Features of Ore Deposits – Draft, undated
Opening a Mine – Draft, undated
Ore Dressing, undated
Organization and Administration of Mine Surveying, 1898
Prospecting, undated
Prospecting – Draft, undated
Reports, undated
Shaft Sinking, 1898
Timbering for Supporting Excavations, undated
Ventilation, undated

Lecture on Mining – Herbert Hoover at Stanford University, 1909
Personal Files

Articles Supporting Hoover for President, 1928
Babine, A. V., 1922 (American Relief Administration)
Correspondence, 1913
Hoover Political Advertisement, undated
Jordan, O. S., The Foundation Ideals of Stanford University, 1915
Newsom Obituaries, 1928
Stanford University prospectus, 1888
Scrapbook – Business Card of Professional Contacts, undated

5

Photographs

Newsom, John F., 1916-1917
Stanford Campus, 1892-1895
Stanford Campus – Hill & Yard images, 1882-1895
Stanford Faculty and Students, 1892-1895
Stanford Geologists at Arkansas Mining Camp, 1892-1895