“The Hoovers & Mining,” March 16

Thursday, March 16, 6 p.m.

Presented by the Davenport Public Library

Presented on March 16 as part of the Davenport Public Library's 3rd Thursday at Hoover's Presidential Library & Museum series, the virtual program The Hoovers & Mining will find National Mining Hall of Fame director Elizabeth Dinchel exploring the roles that Herbert and Lou Henry Hoover played in the mining industry, including their translation of 1556 book in Latin cataloguing the state of the art of mining, refining, and smelting metals.

When Herbert Hoover graduated from Stanford University in 1895, the country was in the midst of the Panic of 1893, and he initially struggled to find a job. He worked various low-level mining jobs in the Sierra Nevada Mountains until persuading prominent mining engineer Louis Janin to hire him, and after working as a mine scout for a year, Hoover was hired by Bewick, Moreing & Co., a London-based company that operated gold mines in Western Australia. The future president traveled constantly across the Australian Outback to evaluate and manage the company's mines, and eventually convinced his company to purchase the Sons of Gwalia gold mine, which proved to be one of the most successful mines in the region. Partly due to Hoover's efforts, the company eventually controlled approximately 50 percent of gold production in Western Australia.

After leaving Bewick, Moreing & Co., Hoover worked as a London-based independent mining consultant and financier. Though he had risen to prominence as a geologist and mine operator, Hoover focused much of his attention on raising money, restructuring corporate organizations, and financing new ventures. He specialized in rejuvenating troubled mining operations, taking a share of the profits in exchange for his technical and financial expertise, and thought of himself and his associates as "engineering doctors to sick concerns," earning a reputation as a "doctor of sick mines." Hoover went on to co-found the Zinc Corporation to extract zinc near the Australian city of Broken Hill, New South Wales, with the organization developing the froth flotation process to extract zinc from lead-silver ore.
In his spare time, Hoover also wrote. His lectures at Columbia and Stanford universities were published in 1909 as Principles of Mining, which became a standard textbook that reflects his move towards progressive ideals as Hoover came to endorse eight-hour workdays and organized labor. Hoover became deeply interested in the history of science, and was especially drawn to the De re metallica, an influential 16th-century work on mining and metallurgy by Georgius Agricola. In 1912, Hoover and his wife published the first English translation of De re metallica.

The Hoovers & Mining will be presented virtually on March 16, participation in the 6 p.m. Zoom event is free, and more information is available by calling (563)326-visiting DavenportLibrary.com.