John B. Hurt Papers 1936-2008

Access and use

Location of collection:
Wytheville Community College
F.B. Kegley Library
Wytheville Community College
Smyth Hall, Room 103
1000 East Main Street
Wytheville, VA 24382
Contact for questions and access:
POC: William A. “Bill” Veselik
Phone: (276) 223-4876
POC: George Mattis
Phone: (276) 223-4744
Fax: (276) 223-4745

Summary

Language:
English

Background

Scope and content:

Collection consists of correspondence (Folders 1 - 11) between historian Beverly Repass Hoch and curators, genealogists, researchers, and family members regarding John B. Hurt. Also included are photocopy letters to and by Hurt in Folder 1. Photographs of Hurt, his family and co-workers as well as Hurt researcher Mamiko Kiyono are found in Folders 12 - 14. Research notes by Beverly Repass Hoch are found in Folders 15 - 19.

A nomination application for Hurt for Wytheville's Wall of Honor is in Folder 20. Folder 21 and 22 contain copies of articles written by Hurt on Japanese linguistics and cryptanalysis.

Biographical / historical:

John B. Hurt was born 4 March 1904 in Fairmont, West Virginia, the son of John David P. Hurt and Edith Shaffer. The family moved to Wytheville where Hurt attended area schools, and developed an intense passion for languages especially Japanese. A former missionary to Japan introduced him to the language that became his life's work.

Hurt studied at the College of William and Mary and then transferred to Roanoke College. At this Lutheran liberal arts school Hurt further honed his linguistic skill by rooming with a Japanese roommate, Masao Maura, among other foreign students. He also befriended Chitose Koshi, who later became a Lutheran minister in Japan. He later studied at the University of Virginia. It was not until 1952, however. that he received a Bachelors of Arts from the University of Maryland.

He met and married Ana Dritelle, a cellist, while in France. The marriage was later annulled . After the death of his second wife, Myrtle Deteirre around 1945, Ana Dritelle and Hurt remarried.

Hurt began his linguistic and cryptologic career in 1930 as a cryptanalyst aide in the Signal Intelligence Service, a predecessor to the National Security Agency. He and his co-workers, including Frank Rowlett, intercepted and attempted to decode live international radio intelligence codes. Hurt eventually became head of the linguistic division and retired in 1963.

He and his wife Ana Dritelle Hurt (remarried ca. 1949) settled in New York where he died on 8 August 1966.

Acquisition information:
Donated by Beverly Repass Hoch in 2009.
Physical description:
22 folders.