This very sad news and I really hate seeing some of my old friends pass onto another map world. Phil and I shared many good times during our careers and he was truly one of the best. Peace my friend. On Sat, Mar 4, 2023, 12:35 PM Heiko Muhr <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > [image: Phil Hoehn 2] Phil > Hoehn, with a Sanborn atlas, Bancroft Library, May 1990. Photograph: > Mary-Ellen Jones (BANC PIC 19xx.349). > > Longtime UC Berkeley Maps and Earth Sciences Librarian Phil Hoehn passed > away on February 6, 2023, from complications of colon cancer. He was 81 > years old. > > Raymond Philip Hoehn, Jr. was born in Cape Girardeau, Missouri on October > 23, 1941, the son of Raymond Philip Hoehn and Florentine Jeanne Hoehn. > Following World War II, the Hoehn family moved west to southern California > and Phil grew up in Pomona. Inheriting a love of maps from his grandfather, > he majored in geography at UCLA. In 1967, Phil earned an MLS from UC > Berkeley and began his career as the Map Librarian at UC Berkeley’s Bancroft > Library <https://www.lib.berkeley.edu/visit/bancroft> in 1969. He was > then asked to assume responsibility for the map collection of the General > Library, and managed both collections for several years. When the Map > Library was merged with the Earth Sciences map collection, Phil was tapped > to lead the new combined unit, eventually known as the Earth Sciences and > Map Library <https://www.lib.berkeley.edu/visit/earth-sciences>, and did > so until his retirement in 1996. > > Phil counted among his favorite accomplishments at Berkeley the > development and management of the California Maps Project, an ambitious > effort funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education to catalog > and re-classify some 21,000 maps held in the collections of UC Berkeley and > UCLA. Randal Brandt, currently Head of Cataloging at the Bancroft Library, > was the project cataloger. “Phil hired me into my first professional > position,” he recalled. “He mentored me, encouraged me, and supported me in > the early years of my career. He also taught me how to catalog maps, which > has been a part of nearly every job I’ve held since then. I can honestly > say that I owe my professional career to Phil.” > > One of the innovative decisions that Phil made during the project was to > include geographic location data in records that describe California Land > Case Maps. These diseños, rough manuscript maps, were used as evidence in > the court cases which determined the validity of Spanish and Mexican land > grants once California was ceded to the United States. Without the online > tools of today, determining correct longitude and latitude data for the > ranchos represented on the land case maps was not a simple task in the > early 1990s. > > Although this work was time-consuming, Phil’s decision paid huge dividends > several years later when the Bancroft Library undertook the digitization of > the maps. When discussing the significance of this metadata, Bancroft > Interim Deputy Director Mary Elings, who directed the digitization project > <https://calisphere.org/collections/12347/>, noted the bridge that has > been made between the handiwork of 19th century amateur cartographers and > contemporary Geographic Information Systems in an important aspect of > California history: “Adding the longitude and latitude to the Land Case > Map records provided helpful information for researchers in geo-referencing > the digitized historic maps, which in turn helps current researchers using > GIS systems in their work.” > > After he retired from Berkeley, Phil headed down the Peninsula and held > the position of map bibliographer at Stanford University’s Branner Earth > Sciences Library & Map Collections <https://library.stanford.edu/branner> from > 1996 to 2000. At Stanford he performed collection development and > maintenance, provided reference assistance, and worked to promote > university-wide awareness of the map collections and services. > Subsequently, from 2000 until 2007 he served as consulting librarian at the > David Rumsey Map Collection (now the David Rumsey Map Center > <https://library.stanford.edu/rumsey> at Stanford), where he created > thousands of detailed catalog records for digitized maps. > > Never one to spend much time “retired,” Phil then launched a second career > as a volunteer map cataloger, first at the California Genealogical Society > and then at the California Historical Society. In 2020, a CHS blog post > <https://californiahistoricalsociety.org/blog/the-behind-the-scenes-map-cataloger/> described > Phil’s work: > > In June 2015, Phil Hoehn … took on the daunting task of organizing the > California Historical Society’s vast map collection … over 45 drawers of > flat sheet maps dating back to at least 1800 (including maps in atlases and > books where cartographers depicted California as an island) as well as > early mining, railroad, and irrigation maps, bound volumes of Sanborn Fire > Insurance maps, and boxes of large rolled maps spanning all the counties in > California. During the four years Phil worked reviewing, researching, > cataloging, and rehousing the maps he discovered many unique titles, some > that appear in only a few other collections in the world. Many of the > works, by such prominent surveyors and cartographers as William Eddy, > Herman Ehrenberg, Jasper O’Farrell, and August Chevalier, document the > birth and growth of the city of San Francisco … [Phil] leaves nearly 4,000 > maps now accessible to researchers. From foldout ones in rare books to > enormous rolled maps that practically took a village to bring up from the > vaults, Phil has discovered, cataloged, preserved, and documented them all. > > Frances Kaplan, until recently Director of Library & Collections at the > California Historical Society, expanded on Phil’s impact, saying “It is due > to his efforts that the entire map collection at CHS is now cataloged and > searchable. Along the way he discovered some rare ones and his work > inspired the [current] map exhibit.” The exhibit, “Mapping a Changing > California: From the Seventeenth to the Twentieth Century > <https://californiahistoricalsociety.org/exhibitions/mapping-a-changing-california-selections-from-the-seventeenth-to-the-twentieth-century/>,” > is on view through March 11, 2023. > > Phil joined the Western Association of Map Libraries <https://waml.org/> (WAML) > in 1969, which was just two years after its first meeting took place. Phil > was an active member of WAML his entire career. He found that the benefits > of WAML membership included getting good practical advice from friendly, > experienced colleagues. Phil also emerged as a wheeler and dealer who > obtained many great maps for the UC Berkeley Library by participating in > WAML duplicate exchanges. He viewed membership as a form of therapy > <https://waml.org/waml-information-bulletin/49-2/spotlight-on-phil-hoehn/> > and described WAML meetings as good places to voice local problems and > concerns among like-minded individuals. > > Phil had a direct hand in the founding of the California Map Society > <https://californiamapsociety.org/>. Together with Diane M. T. North, who > was then a Ph.D candidate at UC Davis, he co-convened a meeting at the > Bancroft Library in May 1978, which was the inaugural gathering of the > California Map Society. North recalled her long relationship with Phil: “Phil’s > knowledge of and deep enthusiasm for maps, all maps, seemed boundless. > Anyone privileged to have the opportunity to be guided by him and work > alongside him benefited from his professionalism, patience, generosity, and > quiet sense of humor.” > > Phil had a longstanding interest in fire insurance maps, including local > California maps, produced by the Dakin Publishing Company > <https://digital.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/static/maps/Hoehn.pdf> and he > published on the subject. His most important publication, compiled together > with William S. Peterson-Hunt and Evelyn L. Woodruff, is a reference tool > of enduring value to map librarians and researchers, the *Union List of > Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps Held by Institutions in the United States and > Canada* > <https://search.library.berkeley.edu/permalink/01UCS_BER/1thfj9n/alma991000320369706532>, > originally published in 2 volumes by the Western Association of Map > Libraries in 1976-1977. The Earth Sciences and Map Library maintains an updated > online version <https://www.lib.berkeley.edu/EART/sanbul_CA_AB.html> on > its website which documents Phil’s hard work. > > Together with UCSB map librarian Mary Larsgaard, Phil also co-authored a > reference resource which historically has been useful to map librarians, the > *Dictionary of Abbreviations and Acronyms in Geographic Information > Systems, Cartography, and Remote Sensing* > <https://www.lib.berkeley.edu/EART/abbrev.html#a>*. * > > Will Murdoch, a book cataloger at the California Historical Society, who > worked with Phil from 2015 until 2019, shared his memories of Phil: > > He was my mentor and work colleague in the CHS Library. I cataloged > books and Phil processed the maps in that collection. We shared a lot of > fun discoveries with each other and learned about the depth of the CHS > archives. It was an education for me as Phil’s background was extensive > and he was so kind to share his knowledge with me. I miss him and our work > together there. > > [image: Phil Hoehn] > Phil Hoehn at the California Historical Society, 2020. > Photograph: Frances Kaplan. > > Phil Hoehn played an important role in building the rich and diverse map > collections on the Berkeley campus. As a map librarian, map bibliographer, > metadata specialist Phil was instrumental in providing expert resource > discovery for cartographic resources at many institutions throughout the > Bay Area. More important than his professional qualities, however, Phil > excelled as a colleague, mentor, and friend. Everyone who knew him and > worked with him was made better for the experience. > > > Randal S. Brandt, Bancroft Library > > Heiko Mühr, Earth Sciences & Map Library > > Susan Powell, Earth Sciences & Map Library > > > > > > > > UC Berkeley Library Blog link: > *https://update.lib.berkeley.edu/2023/03/03/in-memoriam-phil-hoehn-1941-2023* > <https://update.lib.berkeley.edu/2023/03/03/in-memoriam-phil-hoehn-1941-2023/> > > > > Heiko Mühr > > Map Metadata and Curatorial Specialist > > Earth Sciences & Map Library > > 50 McCone Hall > > University of California > > Berkeley, CA 94720-6000 > > [log in to unmask] > >