The following two collections may be of interest to some students in the course. Call ahead to Special Collections to make an appointment to use them. The collection is located in 036 Axinn Library and the phone number is 516-463-6411.
William J. Fitzgerald Collection, 1938-1991 (bulk dates: 1938-1950)
23 cubic ft.
William J. Fitzgerald was an accomplished and well recognized reporter and cinematographer from Forest Hills, NY.
In 1956, he was hired by Western Electric and AT&T technologies as a Public Relations Representative later becoming the Department Chief of Community Relations. It was here that Williams love of the film industry rose to new heights. He was commissioned to work on several documentary and educational films including Data People and Lightwave in the Loop, and in 1974 was awarded the Chris Plaque from the Columbus Film Festival for his work on Scrap. During his twenty-eight years with W.E., William received industry recognition for much of his work.
Coffin,Thomas Erwin (1916-1999) Collection, 1940-1988.
4.5 c.f.
Psychology Professor, Television Marketing Researcher
The Thomas Erwin Coffin Collection at Hofstra University consists of the personal and professional papers belonging to Coffin. Coffin began as a Psychology Instructor at Hofstra College in 1941 and became an Assistant Professor in 1942. During World War II, Coffin was drafted as a conscientious objector and served in Civilian Public Service from 1943 to 1946. Upon his return to Hofstra in 1946, Coffin became an Associate Professor and continued to serve as the department chairman until his departure from Hofstra in 1949.
In addition to teaching while at Hofstra, Coffin also developed and conducted research studies that documented and quantified the effectiveness of advertising on television. This research became known as the Hofstra Studies and encouraged the National Broadcasting Company, NBC, to invite Coffin to work at NBC as the network’s market research specialist in 1949. His research played a vital part in understanding the role of advertising in television. From 1964 to 1972 Coffin was the Director and Vice President of Research at NBC and then became a consultant for the network until his retirement in 1988.
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