Greist, Henry W., 1869-1955
Dates
- Existence: 1869 - 1955
Biography
Henry W. Greist was born in 1869 and became a Presbyterian medical minister. In 1920, he was sent sent to Cape Prince of Wales. He took with him medicines, surgical instruments, Bibles, his wife and small son. In 1921, Greist transferred to Barrow. As the only physician in the Arctic North America and as head of the northernmost hospital in the World, Dr. Greist treated primarily Eskimos. In 1935, Dr. Greist prepared the body of American Humorist Will Rogers for shipping back to the United States after the crash which claimed the lives of both Rogers and his pilot Wiley Post. Greist retired in 1943, and died at his home in Indiana in 1955.
Found in 1 Collection or Record:
Henry W. Greist papers
The collection contains the typescript of Henry W. Greist's unpublished reminiscences, "Seventeen years with the Eskimo." Copies of the Point Barrow newsletter "The Northern Cross," which Greist edited while he was working in Point Barrow, Alaska, as well as notes and letters written by Vilhjalmur Stefansson about Greist are also included.