Dates

• Majority of material found within 1902 - 1982

Extent

20 boxes Linear Feet (Wilbur Lee Coffman (May 30, 1902– February 27, 1982) was born in Madison, Wisconsin, and his parents were mechanical engineer Walter McDowell Coffman (May 5, 1861-April 16, 1922) who was born in Lexington, Virginia, and Effie Stringer Coffman (September 21, 1870-May 14, 1951) who was born in New Orleans, Louisania. In 1918, Wilbur Coffman took a job at the Forest Products Laboratory, where he learned the art of photography. He was hired to work at the University of Wisconsin photography lab. With his new skills as a photographer, he moved to Pittsburgh, finished his high school education and studied at the University of Pittsburgh to become a teacher. He graduated from the University of Pittsburgh and taught school in Pittsburgh and Blairsville before becoming a full-time photographer. Many of his early photographs document Pittsburgh city life in the 1920s and 1930s including the Great Depression, natural disasters, presidential campaign stops, and union strikes. Coffman was employed as the chief photographer for the Pittsburgh Post and Sun (Pittsburgh Post Gazette) until he left Pittsburgh to become a photographer for the Office of War Information during World War Two in 1942. His photographs between 1922 and 1942 in Pittsburgh were the basis for the University Museum exhibit in 2000, W.L. Coffman: Pre-World War II Photographs. Coffman’s newspaper photographs documented accidents, street scenes, crimes, and events. During his time in Pittsburgh, he photographed celebrities including Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933), Amelia Earhart (1897-1937), Albert Einstein (1879-1953), Sonia Henie (1912-1969), Mary Pickford (1892-1979), Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945), Babe Ruth (1895-1948), and Wendell Wilkie (1892-1944). During World War Two, Coffman volunteered as a field representative for the Office of War Information (OWI). In May of 1943, after several months of training, he was sent to the Mediterranean and he photographed campaigns in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, and Greece. Many of his OWI photographs were deposited in the National Archives. In 1945, Coffman returned to Pittsburgh, and he briefly worked as a photographer in the public relations department of Westinghouse Electric. From 1947 until 1979, residents of Indiana, Pennsylvania, knew Coffman as one of the best studio photographers in the area. His studio was the family home at 45 North 6th Street in Indiana, Pennsylvania. His photography went beyond portraits, he photographed regional industry including Syntron (FMC), Musser Forests, and the Rochester & Pittsburgh Coal Company (see Manuscript Group 94: The Rochester & Pittsburgh Coal Company Media Collection). Coffman took photographs on the factory floor, and into the mines and tipples of coal fields throughout Indiana County documenting the employees and regional industry. Coffman married Helen Kathryn Dodson (March 23, 1899 – November 18, 1978) of Indiana, Pennsylvania. She was the daughter of Dr. William E. Dodson (1854-1930) and Harriet Bee Dodson. The Coffmans raised three children including John Dodson Coffman and Elizabeth Coffman Hudock, and the family lived in Pittsburgh before moving to Indiana in 1947. Wilbur Coffman was a member of the Indiana Lions Club. In 1979, Coffman retired from studio photography. He passed away at the Indiana Hospital on February 27, 1982. The W.L. Coffman Photograph Collection is divided into series: Series I Pittsburgh Photographs, 1922-1942 (University Museum); Series II Office of War Information (OWI) World War Two Photographs (University Museum); Series III Coffman Studio Photographs, 1947-1979 (8 boxes, Special Collections & University Archives); and Series IV Coffman Studio Negatives, 1947-1979 (22 boxes, Special Collections & University Archives). )

Language of Materials

English