Format: Web Page
Finding aid URL: https://archivesspace.lafayette.edu/repositories/2/resources/10
James Henry Coffin (1806-1873), an American mathematician and meteorologist, was born in Williamsburg, MA to Matthew and Betsey (Allen) Coffin. A graduate of Amherst College in 1828, Coffin spent most of his academic career as a professor of mathematics, natural philosophy, and astronomy at Lafayette College from 1846 to 1873. At Lafayette College, he also served as Vice-President (1849-1853), Treasurer (1863-1873), and was instrumental in establishing the college’s first and only astronomical observatory. James Henry Coffin synopsis of journal and correspondence consists of a personal diary with an autobiographical narrative, personal correspondence from colleagues and students, and scientific correspondence related to meteorological observations.