WWI Artifacts and Harry Coleman

Posted byEmily L Knapp MuseumPosted inCollege at Brockport Collaboration, Museum Artifacts

by Danielle Maerlender

Mike Lane, a museum internship student from the College at Brockport, can be seen here photographing a World War 1 ‘doughboy’ helmet inscribed with the initials H.R.C.

Upon further examination and research, Mike was able to identify its owner as soldier Harry R. Coleman and his connection to the 4th infantry division that was based out of Fort Carson, Colorado. Through recognition of symbols and iconography on trench art that is also housed within the Emily Knapp Museum, he concluded that Coleman was most likely the producer of the trench art as well.

These artifacts provide a connection between the services that men and women provided during World War I and the Village of Brockport, contributing to it’s local history.

Published by Emily L Knapp Museum

The Emily L. Knapp Museum is a municipal museum associated with the Village of Brockport. The museum is located on the second and third floors in the former home of one of Brockport’s most prominent families, the Seymours, while the first floor contains the Village of Brockport offices. Those who visit Brockport’s collection of local history will feel they’ve entered a time when the Erie Canal was the bustling commercial center of this Victorian village: when ladies wore high-laced shoes and skirts that scraped the slate sidewalks, and the gentlemen sported tall silk hats; when phonographs and stereopticon views as well as novels by our famed authoress, Mary Jane Holmes, entertained the masses. Don’t take our word for it, see for yourself.