Finding Aid to the Fred Kimpton Hinchman Papers MS.558

Finding aid prepared by Holly Rose Larson
Autry National Center, Braun Research Library
234 Museum Drive
Los Angeles, CA, 90065-5030
323-221-2164
rroom@theautry.org
2012 October 5


Title: Fred Kimpton Hinchman Papers
Identifier/Call Number: MS.558
Contributing Institution: Autry National Center, Braun Research Library
Language of Material: English
Physical Description: 3.0 linear feet (4 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1900-1945
Abstract: Fred Kimpton Hinchman (1888-1945) was a teacher and the supervisor of the Extension program at the Southwest Museum from 1929-1945. This collection dates from 1900-1945 and includes Hinchman's personal and teaching papers as well as biographical information and obituaries collected by Southwest Museum staff.
creator: Hinchman, Fred Kimpton, 1888-1945

Processing history

Processed by Glenna Schroeder, circa 1977-1981. Final processing and finding aid completed by Holly Rose Larson, NHPRC Processing Archivist, 2012 October 5, made possible through grant funding from the National Historical Publications and Records Commissions (NHPRC).

Scope and Contents

This collection includes Fred Hinchman's papers as well as biographical information and obituaries collected by Southwest Museum staff. Hinchman's papers include class notes and assignments, date books, manuscripts, newspaper clippings, personal ephemera, and a scrapbook. Hinchman's writings include analysis of dramatic texts and literature as well as poetry, which was one of his hobbies. Materials date from 1900-1945.

Biographical Note

Fred Kimpton Hinchman (1888-1945) was a teacher and the supervisor of the Extension program at the Southwest Museum from 1929-1945. The only child of Andrew W. and Cora Ethel (Kimpton) Hinchman, he was born in Dunlap, Morris County, Kansas, 1888 October 20. After spending the first seven years of his life on the family farm, the Hinchman family moved first to Las Vegas, New Mexico then to Denver, Colorado because Cora Ethel suffered from “ill health.”
In World War I, Fred was attached to Field Hospital M.O.T.C. at Fort Riley, Kansas, and to the Medical Department at Camp Logan, Texas.
He was introduced to Native American arts and culture while travelling to New Mexico during World War I and the 1915 Panama–California Exposition, held in San Diego, California. He also made numerous “excursions” with his mother to Isleta, New Mexico.
This is when Hinchman started acquiring a collection of Native American jewelry, textiles, basketry, and objects. Frederick Webb Hodge would later describe this collection as having “high ethnologic value and one that could never be duplicated.”
Sometime after the War, Hinchman enrolled in the University of Colorado at Boulder and received his A.B. He returned to Kansas and became an instructor in English and was later appointed principle of the Dunlap High School. He served as principle for five years. Fred’s father passed away in 1925 and in 1928, Fred and his mother moved to California. In 1929 August, he was hired as the assistant to Curator of the Southwest Museum, and in December of the same year, he was promoted to Supervisor of Extension.
He passed way in 1945 January 27. Hinchman bequeathed his collection of objects, photographic negatives, books, and paintings by and of Indians to the Southwest Museum. Hinchman also made the Southwest Museum his residuary legatee and beneficiary of the "Cora E. Hinchman Fund," an endowment "to be used for the upkeep and repair of the building, and for the purchases and repair of exhibit cases and cupboards."
Reference: Fred Kimpton Hinchman obituary published in The Masterkey, volume 19, number 3, pages 76-79, 1945 and written by Fredrick Webb Hodge.

Acquisition

Bequest by Fred Kimpton Hinchman, 1945.

Preferred citation

Fred Kimpton Hinchman Papers, 1900-1945, Braun Research Library Collection, Autry National Center, Los Angeles; MS.558; [folder number] [folder title][date].

Use

Copyright has not been assigned to the Autry National Center. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Autry Archivist. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Autry National Center as the custodian of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the reader.

Access

Collection is open for research. Appointments to view materials are required. To make an appointment please visit http://theautry.org/research/research-rules-and-application or contact library staff at rroom@theautry.org. An item-level list is available from the library staff.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

Hodge, Frederick Webb, 1864-1956
Lummis, Charles Fletcher, 1859-1928.
Southwest Museum (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Clippings
Indians of North America
Isleta Pueblo (N.M.)
Literature -- History and criticism
Manuscripts
Obituaries
Panama-California Exposition (1915 : San Diego, Calif.)
Poetry
Scrapbooks
Taos Pueblo (N.M.)