Anne Hoiberg served for 25 years as a research psychologist for the federal government; her curriculum vitae includes two books and 130 scientific articles, book chapters, reports, and presentations at national and international conferences. She held the position of president of the Women’s Museum of California from 2010 through 2015 and from 2019 to 2021. She currently serves as the President of the International Museum of Human Rights at San Diego, Bilateral Safety Corridor Coalition, La Jolla Pen Women, and Co-President of the American Association of University Women (San Diego branch) as well as Chairwoman of the Nile Sisters Development Initiative and Secretary of the Peace Resource Center. She is a past president of the League of Women Voters, United Nations Association of San Diego, and National Women’s Political Caucus. She volunteered through the U.S. Department of State to serve as an election supervisor in emerging countries (eight missions).
In 2015, she curated the Women’s Museum exhibit, “Tears of War: The Many Faces of Refugee Women,” which received a grant for her to write and publish a book about these refugee women; the book, Tears of War–Stories of Refugee Women, was published by Montezuma Publishing in December 2022. Her booklet, Women of the Gaslamp Quarter and Chinatown, has been printed and is distributed during her walking tour of the district.
She was inducted into the San Diego County Women’s Hall of Fame in 2012; she is the recipient of other prestigious awards, e.g., “2018 Woman of the Year Award” from Moxie Theatre, “2019 Woman of Empowerment” for Women Empowerment International. San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria proclaimed August 31, 2021 as Anne Hoiberg Women’s Rights Day to honor her many years of activism and advocacy. She is a freelance writer and speaker on such topics as the history of women’s rights, human trafficking, violence against women, world peace, the United Nations, and women’s political participation.
The San Diego Union-Tribune
Someone San Diego Should Know!
By ANN L. HILL FEB. 21, 2020, San Diego Union-Tribune
Her mission is advancement of women’s issues
The Anne Hoiberg Women’s Center at the Women’s Museum of California at Liberty Station is named for the current president of the museum, whose journey as an activist has inspired many across the globe. During her 25 years as a research psychologist at the Naval Health Research Center in Point Loma, Hoiberg presented more than 100 papers at scientific conferences, wrote two books, and became a certified instructor on the prevention of sexual harassment. In 1980, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) asked her to organize a week-long “Women and the World of Work” symposium for scientists in Lisbon, Portugal. In response to the information presented, all participants pledged to do something locally and globally to advance women. Hoiberg had found her mission. In the mid-90s, she retired as head of the Health Services Research Department, and looked forward “to focusing on what I was really interested in women’s issues.” She became a member of the National Women’s Political Caucus, a nonpartisan organization for passage of the ERA, federally sponsored childcare, and pro-choice women candidates. She proudly recalls 1992, “The Year of the Woman,” when she was president of the caucus. “All of our San Diego representatives were women that year — the mayor, school board president, assemblywomen, congresswomen and senators — Golding, Weber, Kehoe, Alpert, Killea, Schenk, Boxer and Feinstein — everyone but the president of the United States.”
To advance her global goals for women, she turned to the United Nations. In 1946, the U.N. had created the Commission on the Status of Women to promote gender equality and empower women. It also established the U.N. Association of San Diego (UNA-SD) at the U.N. Building in Balboa Park. Hoiberg served as president of the UNA-SD for three years, continuously encouraging women all over the world to run for public office.In 1995, she organized an 18-member San Diego Delegation for the U.N.’s “Fourth World Conference on Women” in Beijing. She presented a workshop on “Women and Political Participation,” and three others presented a workshop about ending domestic violence and caring for victims. After the conference they worked with San Diego City Attorney Casey Gwinn to create the San Diego Family Justice Center in 2002.“This is a one-stop location for women, men and children who are the victims of family violence and sex trafficking that offers all necessary services, including an assessment of a victim’s risk of being murdered and their need for shelter,” Hoiberg said. There are now more than 100 Family Justice Centers across the United States, as well as in 20 other countries.
For 24 years, she has been part of a San Diego delegation at the annual meeting of the Commission on the Status of Women. “Two years ago, the head of Iceland’s Department of Women’s Affairs attended, and she also visited the Family Justice Centers in each of the five boroughs of New York City. When she announced that Iceland would soon be opening its first center, I enjoyed telling her that this idea started in San Diego.”Another San Diego idea was the “Women’s History Reclamation Project,” created in 1983 by Mary Maschal, who ran the gift shop at UNA-SD. She collected historic memorabilia, and felt that too little was known about the history of women. In 1995, her expanding collection was moved from her home to a museum storefront in Golden Hill, and Anne Hoiberg joined her board. While Anne was president in 2011, the museum was renamed the Women’s Museum of California and moved to its current location at Liberty Station, where it educates the community about the experiences and contributions of women, past and present.
The Anne Hoiberg Women’s Center at the Women’s Museum of California offers a speakers bureau, walking tours, a Girl Scout badge program, and many informative events. In 2015, Hoiberg developed an exhibit about refugee women, “to understand how they survived fleeing, how their children fared, how you leave your home, family, and livelihood.” She obtained a grant from the California Endowment for the Humanities, part of which was for her new book, Tears of War: Stories of Refugee Women, that features “thirty-seven of the most wonderful women –- resilient, strong, brilliant.”She is serving as president of the Women’s Museum of California again this year as it presents a new permanent exhibit, “Marching Toward Empowerment,” in honor of the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment that granted women the right to vote. She invites all to join her on Aug. 26, “Women’s Equality Day,” for the 15th annual Suffrage Parade at Balboa Park. Her ongoing belief that by improving the status of women in society, we improve all of society, is central to the many additional causes that benefit from Anne’s leadership. Forty years after the NATO conference in Lisbon, Hoiberg continues to fulfill her pledge — and then some.
About this feature
Ann L. Hill is a member of the U-T Community Advisory Board. People San Diego Should Know is a weekly column about local people who are interesting and noteworthy because of their experiences, achievements, creativity or credentials. If you know of someone you believe San Diego should know, please send your idea to advisoryboard@sduniontribune.com