National Museum of the American Indian

Edwin F. Coffin negatives and photographs, 1918-1932

Summary

Collection ID:
NMAI.AC.001.009
Creators:
Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation
Coffin, Edwin F. (Edwin Francis), b. 1883
Dates:
1918-1932
Languages:
No linguistic content; Not applicable
.
Physical Description:
93 Acetate negatives
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
The Edwin F. Coffin collection consists of photographs made by Coffin on behalf of the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation. Aside from a number of views of New York real estate owned by the Museum (1924), the remainder of the collection contains Museum of the American Indian excavation photographs made in the Bee Cave Canyon rockshelter in Brewster County, Texas (1929); in the Burson Bell Farm in Montague, New Jersey (1932); and in the Bronx and on Staten Island, New York City (1918 and 1922 respectively).

Arrangement note

Arrangement note
Negatives Arranged by negative numbers (N02289-N02302, N03374-N03375, N07787-N07791, N08591, N08767-N08775, N18677-N18735, N20566)

Biographical/Historical note

Biographical/Historical note
Around 1922, George G. Heye hired former racecar driver Edwin F. Coffin to be the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation's first official staff photographer, a position he retained until 1932. Coffin was a capable archaeological photographer--in 1918, 1921, and 1923, he also photographed the activities of the Hendricks-Hodge Hawikku Expedition excavations--and eventually conducted fieldwork in Texas.

Administration

Author
Heather Shannon
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Historically, the Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation managed all photographic and related manuscript collections separately. This collection description represents current management practices of organizing and contextualizing related archival materials.
Processing Information note
Processed by Heather Shannon, Photo Archivist, in 2012.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access note
Access is by appointment only, Monday - Friday, 9:30 am - 4:30 pm. Please contact the archives to make an appointment.
Conditions Governing Use note
Some materials are restricted due to cultural sensitivity.
Preferred Citation note
Edwin F. Coffin collection of negatives and photographs, 1918-1932, National Museum of the American Indian Archives, Smithsonian Institution (negative, slide or catalog number).

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Photographs Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Hawikuh (N. M.) Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Negatives Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Photographic prints Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Excavations (Archaeology) -- Texas -- Photographs Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Excavations (Archaeology) -- New Jersey -- Photographs Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Excavations (Archaeology) -- New York (State) -- Photographs Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Albumen prints Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Museum of the American Indian, Heye Foundation -- Photographs Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

National Museum of the American Indian
4220 Silver Hill Rd
Suitland, Maryland 20746-2863
nmaiarchives@si.edu