Overview of the Collection
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Repository Name:
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Oregon State University
Libraries
University
Archives
121 The Valley Library
Oregon State University
Corvallis, OR 97331-4501
Phone: 541-737-2165
Email: archives@oregonstate.edu
Web: http://osulibrary.oregonstate.edu/archives
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Collection Number:
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MSS
Unsoeld
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Creator:
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Unsoeld,
William Francis, 1926-
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Title:
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Willi Unsoeld Collection
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Dates:
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1963-1979 (inclusive)
1963-1965 (bulk)
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Quantity:
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0.1 cubic foot
1 box
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Languages:
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Materials in English.
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Summary:
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The Willi Unsoeld Collection documents OSU
alumnus and faculty member Willi Unsoeld's spring 1963 climb of Mount Everest
and the fall 1963 OSU fundraising campaign to defer Unsoeld's medical expenses
resulting from the Mount Everest climb. The collection includes correspondence,
newsletters, financial reports, clippings, and a 1979 Oregon Senate
resolution.
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Biographical Note
Renowned mountain climber William Francis Unsoeld was born in 1926 in
Arcata, California, and attended high school in Eugene, Oregon. In 1944 he
enrolled at Oregon State College, studied physics, and received a Bachelor of
Science degree in 1951. While at Oregon State, Unsoeld helped found the OSC
Mountain Club. He received a divinity degree from the Pacific School of
Religion in 1954 and a Ph.D. from the University of Washington in 1958.
Unsoeld joined the faculty of the OSC Department of Religion in 1958.
From 1962 to 1967 Unsoeld took a leave of absence from OSU and worked for the
Peace Corps in Nepal, and later worked for the U.S. Agency for International
Development. At the time of his death in 1979, Unsoeld was on the faculty of
Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, where he had taught philosophy
and religion since 1970.
Unsoeld was a world class mountain climber who started mountain climbing
as a boy in Oregon's Cascades. He was best known for his participation in the
successful 1963 climb of Mt. Everest by the first group of climbers from the
United States. On that climb, Unsoeld and Thomas Hornbein became the first
climbers to scale Everest's west ridge. Other significant climbs in which
Unsoeld participated included the 1954 California Himalayan Expedition to
Malaku and the 1960 American-Pakistan Karakorem Expedition to Mt. Mashabram in
the Western Himalayas.
While a student at Oregon State, Unsoeld met Jolene Bishoprick when they
were both members of the OSC Mountain Club. Unsoeld and Bishoprick married in
1951, and had four children. Jolene Unsoeld graduated from Oregon State in 1953
and later served as a U.S. Representative from Washington from 1989 to 1995.
Willi Unsoeld died in an avalanche on Mt. Rainier on March 4, 1979.
Content Description
The Willi Unsoeld Collection primarily documents Unsoeld's participation
in the 1963 climb of Mt. Everest. The series I newsletters were written by
expedition members, including Willi Unsoeld, James R. Ullman, and Norman
Dyhrenfurth, between February and June 1963. Series II, Correspondence,
consists of OSU president emeritus A.L Strand's fundraising efforts in the
summer and fall of 1963 to help offset the medical costs of Unsoeld's treatment
for frostbite resulting from the climb. This series also contains other
correspondence between Strand and the Unsoelds, 1963-1965. Series III contains
newspaper clippings about the 1963 Mt. Everest climb from the
Oregonian and
Corvallis Gazette-Times newspapers, as well
as
National Geographic's 1963 articles on the
climb, including one co-authored by Unsoeld. Included in one of the articles is
a photo of Unsoeld planting the OSC Mountain Club banner on Everest's summit.
Series IV consists of a resolution passed by the Oregon Senate honoring Unsoeld
after his death in March 1979.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged into four series: I. Mt. Everest Expedition
Newsletters; II. Correspondence; III. Newspaper and Magazine Clippings; and IV.
Oregon Senate Resolution.
Use of the Collection
Restrictions on Access Collection is open for research.
Preferred Citation Willi Unsoeld Collection, Oregon State University Archives, Corvallis,
Oergon
Restrictions on Use Mt. Everest climb newsletters are copyrighted and are not to be
reproduced.
Subjects
| Oregon.
Legislative Assembly. Senate--Resolutions. (creator) |
| Everest,
Mount (China and Nepal) |
| Mountaineering--Everest,
Mount (China and Nepal) |
| Other Creators : |
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Dyhrenfurth, Norman G. |
| Strand, A.
L. (August Leroy), 1894- |
| Ullman,
James Ramsey, 1907-1971 |
| Unsoeld,
Jolene |
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