J. Edward Hoffmeister Papers
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego Library
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
Copyright 2005
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla 92093-0175
spcoll@ucsd.edu
Descriptive Summary
Languages:
English
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla 92093-0175
Title: J. Edward Hoffmeister Papers
Identifier/Call Number: MSS 0231
Physical Description:
5.5 Linear feet
(8 archives boxes, 4 card file boxes, 1 flat box and 3 oversize items)
Date (inclusive): 1925-1982
Abstract: John Edward Hoffmeister (1899-1991) earned his degrees from Johns Hopkins University; an A.B. in chemistry in 1920 and a Ph.D.
in geology in 1923. Field work in Tonga and Fiji in 1926, 1928, and 1934 formed the basis of his antecedent-platform theory
of coral reef development in the 1930s. His primary collaborator was Harry S. Ladd. Hoffmeister was a professor of geology
and an administrator at the University of Rochester from 1923 until 1964, and continued his work on corals during his retirement
in Florida. The Papers span 1925-1982 with the bulk documenting the years 1926-1935. While there is no documentation of his
work at the University of Rochester or his service during World War II, and little record of his Florida work, documentation
of his Pacific expeditions in the 1920s and 1930s is quite rich. This early documentation includes numerous lantern slides
and 16 mm films taken during his Pacific expeditions, along with personal and professional correspondence, field notebooks,
diaries, and records of the Pacific Science Association's committee on coral reefs, and ephemera. Ephemera include geological
specimens, a Fijian war club and two walking sticks.
Restrictions
Original film formats are restricted. Digital surrogates are available for viewing.
Scope and Content of Collection
In the early decades of the 20th century, when J. Edward Hoffmeister undertook his investigations of corals in the South
Pacific, the "coral reef problem" was of great interest to scholars. At issue was a seeming paradox: the food and light conditions
necessary to reef-forming corals are found only in relatively shallow water. Nevertheless, two common coral formations, atolls
and barrier reefs, frequently occur far below the ocean's surface. Most of the proposed solutions to this problem have postulated
a change in sea level relative to the reefs' foundation. Darwin theorized that the land beneath these kinds of corals sank,
and the sea level correspondingly rose, as the reefs grew. Others, following the American geologist Reginald Daly's lead,
proposed a more complicated scenario of glacial warming and coral growth. Since neither theory could, by itself, account for
all observed forms of coral reefs, the debate continued.
On the basis of their field research in Tonga and Fiji, Hoffmeister and his colleague Harry Ladd argued that the growth of
coral reefs required only the antecedent existence of a suitable submerged "platform" and that no change in sea level was
necessary. Although this theory is now considered less persuasive than either Darwin or Daly's explanations, it has not been
wholly discredited. The field notebooks, drawing books, lantern slides, diaries, and some of the correspondence in this collection
provide a unique retrospect on the social, intellectual and physical circumstances that shaped Hoffmeister's thinking on the
origins of coral reefs. The letters to and from Harry Ladd, W. A. Setchell and T. Wayland Vaughn, and the files on the international
committee on the coral reefs of the Pacific, give a sense of some of the interests current among a broad community of geologists
in the first half of this century.
In addition to their contribution to the history of geology, the Hoffmeister papers offer anthropologists rare documentary
evidence of native life in Fiji and Tonga during the 1920s and 1930s. The collection includes hundreds of feet of 16mm black
and white film covering feasts, dancing, rural and urban housing, and village scenes from the two island groups. Hoffmeister's
letters to his wife and the diaries he kept during the second expedition are also useful sources of information about the
islanders' daily lives.
The collection is limited to Hoffmeister's research on corals. His years as a professor of geology and dean at the University
of Rochester are not covered here, nor is there any biographical material. His contributions to the Army-Navy Joint Task Force
on Bikini Island are alluded to in correspondence, but there is no supporting evidence in this collection.
The collection is arranged in nine series: 1) FIRST EXPEDITION, EUA, TONGA, 1926, 2) SECOND EXPEDITION, TONGA, 1928, 3) THIRD
EXPEDITION, FIJI AND LAU, 1934, 4) FILMS AND SLIDES, 5) CORRESPONDENCE, 6) WRITINGS, 7) SUBJECT FILES, 8) PHOTOGRAPHS AND
NEGATIVES, and 9) ARTIFACTS AND GEOLOGICAL SPECIMENS.
Biography
John Edward Hoffmeister (1899-1991) was a professor of geology and an administrator at the University of Rochester from 1923
until 1964. His research focused on the development of coral reefs, based on field work he conducted in the Tongan and Fijian
islands in the late 1920s and early 1930s and off the coast of Florida during the 1960s and 1970s.
As a graduate student, Hoffmeister worked with T. Wayland Vaughn at the National Museum of Natural History. He was also a
fellow of the Bishop Museum in Hawaii, 1921-1929, where he was invited to join the expedition of W.A. Setchell in 1926 to
study geology in Eua, an island in the Tongan Group. Hoffmeister's second Pacific expedition was in 1928 with Harry Ladd,
again in the Tongan Group. In 1934, he and Ladd made another joint expedition, this time to Fiji. During these expeditions,
Hoffmeister made several films of island life and corresponded regularly with his family back home.
His researches on these expeditions resulted in twenty-five articles and included his articulation of the antecedent-platform
theory of coral reef formation. This theory posed an alternative to Darwin's theory of subsidence which suggested that reefs
have sunk with the subsidence of the sea floor. Hoffmeister's theory suggests that no change in sea level is necessary for
understanding reef development.
During World War II, Hoffmeister's knowledge of the Pacific was put to use making bombing maps of the Pacific for the Army
Map Service. He worked as a geologist for the United States Geological Survey in 1942-44 and, in 1946, consulted on the Bikini
atom bomb test.
Following nearly forty years of service as an educator and administrator at the University of Rochester, Hoffmeister returned
to field work on corals off the coast of Florida at the University of Miami's marine laboratory. His post-retirement period
was productive, resulting in several publications, including a summary of his Florida work in a book for popular audiences,
LAND FROM THE SEA (1974).
He was a fellow of the Geological Society of America, the Geological Association of Canada, and the Paleontological Society
of America.
Publication Rights
Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.
Preferred Citation
J. Edward Hoffmeister Papers, MSS 231. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego.
Acquisition Information
Acquired 1992.
Digital Content
The films from this collection have been digitized.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Coral reefs and islands -- Pacific Ocean
Coral reef -- Biology
Corals -- Fiji
Corals -- Tonga
Tonga -- Social life and customs
Tonga -- Description and travel
Fiji -- Social life and customs
Fiji -- Description and travel
Photographic prints -- 20th century
Diaries -- 20th century
Geology -- Tonga
Geology -- Fiji
Geologists -- Biography
Hoffmeister, J. Edward (John Edward), 1899-1991 -- Archives
Vaughan, Thomas Wayland, 1870-1952 -- Correspondence
Setchell, William Albert, 1864-1943 -- Correspondence
Ladd, Henry, 1895-1941 -- Correspondence
Hoffmeister, Ruth -- Correspondence
FIRST EXPEDITION: EUA, TONGA, 1926
Scope and Content of Series
Series 1) FIRST EXPEDITION, EUA, TONGA, 1926
This series consists of correspondence and field notebooks. Nearly all of the general correspondence is from Professor W.
A. Setchell, of the University of California, Berkeley, who hoped to include Hoffmeister in a research trip to Tonga. The
letters, which address funding issues and travel arrangements, predate the expedition. Correspondence with Ruth Hoffmeister
begins shipboard, with Hoffmeister en route to the Fijian port town of Suva, the Setchell group's first stop after leaving
Hawaii. Hoffmeister's handwritten letters to his wife provide detailed descriptions of people, both Westerners and natives,
and of places, including Suva and the islands of Tongatabu and Eua. Activities such as attending a local church service, collecting
fossils, and pitching camp are fully--and sometimes wryly--recounted. The field notebooks contain handwritten, detailed technical
descriptions of the locations and physical conditions of the coral specimens that Hoffmeister collected. Some entries also
include more discursive comments on current or planned field activities. Most are not individually dated, but each notebook's
cover page contains a date.
Box 1, Folder 1
Correspondence - General
1925 - 1926
Box 1, Folder 2
Correspondence - Hoffmeister, Ruth
1926
Box 1, Folder 3
Field notebooks - No. 1
1926 May-July
Box 1, Folder 4
Field notebooks - No. 2
1926 July 8-July 31
Box 1, Folder 5
Field notebooks - No. 3
1926 August 9-16
SECOND EXPEDITION: TONGA, 1928
Scope and Content of Series
Series 2) SECOND EXPEDITION, TONGA and FIJI, 1928
This series contains Correspondence, Drawing Books, Field Notebooks, Photographs, and Publications. As with the first expedition,
the letters in this series are mainly from W. A. Setchell and to Ruth Hoffmeister. This time, however, Setchell discusses
substantive empirical issues regarding actual and theoretical reef formation, and Hoffmeister's letters to his wife contain
relatively more intimacies and references to home and relatively fewer detailed descriptions of people, places, and field
work. Neither of the two Drawing Books are dated or labeled, but the sketches of individual features of island topography
correspond with some of the field notes, suggesting that the drawings were done on the second expedition. The Field Notebooks
are similar in style and content to those done during the first expedition, except that they have fewer specimen lists and
more reflections on the possible meanings of observed geological features. For example, in Notebook No. 5, Hoffmeister describes
the course of water down a volcanic slope on Eua, and then notes a "very interesting physiographic feature" resulting from
the action of the water on the underlying limestone. He speculates that what he is observing on Eua may also explain similar
land features found on other islands. The five Photographs of Falcon Island document a trip Hoffmeister and his colleague
Harry Ladd organized to a newly emerged volcanic island in the Tonga group. The publication include two works that arose directly
out of the second expedition, a co-authored article on Falcon Island and a monograph on the geology of Eua. The interest the
latter stimulated among Hoffmeister's colleagues is attested to by their letters.
Box 1, Folder 6
Correspondence - General
1928 June-December
Box 1, Folder 7
Correspondence - Hoffmeister, Ruth
1928 April-August
Box 1, Folder 8-9
Drawing books, Vol. 1-2, Field maps
undated
Box 2, Folder 1
Field notebooks - No. 4
1928 April 21-May 9
Box 2, Folder 2
Field notebooks - No. 5
1928 May 10-16 (?)
Box 2, Folder 3
Field notebooks - Tongatabu
1928 May 17-24 (?)
Box 2, Folder 4
Field notebooks - Vitilevu, Fiji
1928 July 3-August (?)
Box 2, Folder 5
Photographs - Trip to Falcon Island
1928
Box 2, Folder 6
Publications - "Falcon, the Pacific's Newest Island"
Box 2, Folder 7
Publications - "Falcon Island," Hoffmeister,
American Journal of Science
1929
Box 2, Folder 8, Oversize MC-050-02
Publications - "The Disappearing Island: 'Jack in the Box' Falcon and its Crater"
1929
Box 2, Folder 9
Publications -
Geology of Eua, Tonga, Hoffmeister
1932
Box 2, Folder 10
Correspondence regarding
Geology of Eua, Tonga
1932 - 1933
THIRD EXPEDITION: FIJI ISLANDS, 1934
Scope and Content of Series
Series 3) THIRD EXPEDITION, FIJI ISLANDS, 1934
This series includes Correspondence, Diaries, and Publications. The general correspondence includes a larger variety of correspondents
than occurred with the previous two expeditions. Possible sources of funding for the research, selection of staff, and related
issues predominate. The letters to Ruth Hoffmeister are more similar in tone to those written during the first expedition.
There are colorful reports of island life and daily social and work-related activities. The contrast between Hoffmeister's
routines in the relatively urban port of Suva and his daily existence in the more remote parts of the Lau island group is
clear. The Diaries provide a vivid sense of the trials and triumphs of field research in a remote setting. Hoffmeister records
his irritations--with the miserable weather, the voracious mosquitoes, the capricious mail delivery; but he notes his pleasures--telling
nursery tales to the natives to ease the boredom of long evenings, talking over the implications of a day's fossil finds with
Harry Ladd, tasting turtle eggs--as well. The diaries also record details of the physical attributes of the islands Hoffmeister
visited and note some of the social and physical characteristics of the islanders. The most significant publication to emerge
from this expedition was the book Geology of Lau, Fiji, co-authored with Harry Ladd.
Box 2, Folder 11
Correspondence - General
1933 - 1934
Box 2, Folder 12
Correspondence - Hoffmeister, Ruth
1934 February-June
Box 2, Folder 13
Diaries - Vol. 1
1934 February 10-June 13
Box 2, Folder 14
Diaries - Vol. 2
1934 June 14 (?)-29
FILMS AND SLIDES
Scope and Content of Series
Series 4) FILMS AND SLIDES
Hoffmeister recorded on 16mm film scenes of daily village life and panoramic views of the islands he visited. Although few
reels are dated, it is likely that some footage was taken on each of the three expeditions. The films are arranged in subseries
by type of film and reel size: Black & White Film, 16mm, 7" Reels, and Black & White and Color Film, 16mm, 3.5" Reels. The
series also includes several hundred Lantern Slides and two Mounted Slides. Some of the film footage is under- or overexposed
and therefore difficult to interpret; one reel is broken in three places; and one reel is severely damaged by mold. Most of
the film, however, is in good enough condition to view easily. The reel labeled "Prince of Tonga" is captioned and provides
an excellent overview of the kinds of footage included in many of the other films. It was made in 1970, using segments from
several different reels, to be presented as a gift to the Prince of Tonga. Overall, Hoffmeister seems to have recorded scenes
and events he thought might be of interest to the general public. Examples include native dancing, some forms of which involve
highly stylized movements conducted completely from a seated position; a feast; the preparation of tapa cloth; different types
of housing; a village rugby game; and mail delivery. The Lantern Slides, in contrast, contain proportionately more images
of interest to specialists. There are about 200 slides of corals and limestone formations and nearly a hundred of graphs,
charts, and tables broadly related to the geology of reef formation in various parts of the world. The Mounted Slides are
dated 1972 by the developer; the subjects are not identified.
Black & white 16mm film, 7" reels
Restrictions
Original films are restricted; please consult digitized versions.
Box 3, Folder 1
Fiji and Tonga
circa 1926-1928
Fiji and Tonga: circa 1926-1928
General note
Footage includes dance, the making of tapa cloth, and scenes around Apia and Tin Can Island.
Box 3, Folder 3
Fiji, Terraces of Eua
circa 1934
Fiji, Terraces of Eua: circa 1934
General note
Footage includes scenes of Viti Levu, the Navua River, and the preparation of Yaqona.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Kava (Beverage)
Fiji -- Description and travel
Box 3, Folder 4
Fiji scenes
circa 1934
Fiji scenes: circa 1934
General note
Footage includes what may be Suva with footage from Tonga, Army, natural bridge.
Box 3, Folder 5
People in Eua,Tonga
circa 1926-1928
People in Eua,Tonga: circa 1926-1928
General note
Footage includes scenes of Apia and Tin Can Island with footage from Fiji and Tonga.
Box 4, Folder 1
Tonga, Army, natural bridge
circa 1926-1928
Tonga, Army, natural bridge: circa 1926-1928
General note
Footage includes Tongan military and horse racing club, and what may be Hufangalupe, a natural land bridge on the south coast
of Tongatabu.
Box 4, Folder 2
Eua, Tonga
circa 1926-1928
Eua, Tonga: circa 1926-1928
General note
Footage includes fruit bats, dancing, and food customs of Tongan villagers.
Box 4, Folder 3
Eua, Tonga (landscape with cliffs)
circa 1926-1928
Eua, Tonga (landscape with cliffs): circa 1926-1928
Box 4, Folder 4
Scenes in Polynesia
Scenes in Polynesia
General note
Footage includes what may be "tamure" dancing from the Cook Islands or French Polynesia.
Box 4, Folder 5
Prince of Tonga
1928
Prince of Tonga: 1928
General note
Footage includes Prince Viliami Tungi Mailefih, scenes around Eua, Nuku'alofa, Falcon Island, and a Tongan feast.
Box 5, Folder 1
Prince of Tonga (duplicate print)
1928
Box 5, Folder 2
Prince of Tonga (picture negative)
Box 5, Folder 3
Prince of Tonga (original film, part camera reversal, part reversal print)
Black & white and color 16mm film, 3.5" reels
Restrictions
Original films are restricted; please consult digitized versions.
Box 5, Folder 4
Fijian dancing
Fijian dancing: circa 1934
Box 5, Folder 5
Fijian natives
circa 1934
Fijian natives: circa 1934
General note
Footage includes Fiji police force and what may be police escorting prisoners out of a jail building.
Box 6, Folder 1
Fiji natives (unboxed)
circa 1934
Fiji natives (unboxed): circa 1934
General note
Footage includes Fijians playing cricket and rugby, and the preparation of Yaqona.
Box 6, Folder 2
Native dancing
Native dancing
General note
Footage includes what may be "tamure" dancing from the Cook Islands or French Polynesia with footage from Scenes in Tonga.
Box 6, Folder 3
Scenes in Fiji
circa 1934
Scenes in Fiji: circa 1934
General note
Footage includes scenes of coastal landscape, islanders doing laundry, and native-style sailing canoe.
Box 6, Folder 4
Tonga
circa 1928
Tonga: circa 1928
General note
Footage includes shots of Tongan coastline.
Box 6, Folder 5
Mauna Loa in Eruption
1942
Mauna Loa in Eruption: 1942
General note
Color film.
Restrictions
Original film is restricted; please consult digitized version.
Lantern slides - Negative file
Pacific Islands - Land/seascapes ... Vegetation
Box 6, Folder 6
Charts, figures, graphs, maps (ALS/M231/75-98)
Box 6, Folder 6
Regional ethnography (ALS/M231/99 - 117)
Box 6, Folder 6
Historical and literary figures (ALS/M231/118-133)
Box 6, Folder 6
Florida - Land/seascapes ... Vegetation (ALS/M231/134-140)
Box 6, Folder 6
Coral and limestone specimens (ALS/M231/134-140)
Box 6, Folder 6
Charts, figures, graphs, maps (ALS/M231/183-206)
Box 6, Folder 6
Unlabeled - Land/seascapes, reefs, rock formations, vegetation (ALS/M231/207-247)
Box 6, Folder 6
Coral and Limestone specimens (ALS/M231/248-260)
Box 6, Folder 6
Charts, figures, graphs, maps (ALS/M231/2561-299)
Box 6, Folder 6
Miscellaneous (ALS/ M231/ 300-307)
Box 7, Folder 1
Unlabeled mounted 35mm color slides
1972
CORRESPONDENCE
Scope and Content of Series
Series 5) CORRESPONDENCE
Includes General and Collected correspondence. The former consists of a single folder with letters from colleagues addressing
issues related to Hoffmeister's and others' research on corals. The Collected Correspondence is dominated by letters to and
from Hoffmeister's friend and frequent collaborator, Harry Ladd. Most of the letters concern the reef-related research the
two men conducted jointly and individually. Although the specific topics they address change over the 50-year span covered
by the correspondence, the warmth and good humor inherent in the exchanges remains constant.
Box 7, Folder 11
Setchell. W.A.
1932 - 1939
WRITINGS
Scope and Content of Series
Series 6) WRITINGS
This series contains reprints of all of Hoffmeister's published work, except those pieces grouped with the expeditions. There
is also a draft of a speech he gave in 1972, when the Miami University Institute of Marine Sciences dedicated their new Laboratory
for Comparative Sedimentology to T. Wayland Vaughn.
Box 8, Folder 2
Draft of speech given at dedication of T. Wayland Vaughn Laboratory for Comparative Sedimentology, Miami University Institute
of Marine Sciences, Fisher Island Station
1972 January 27
SUBJECT FILES
Scope and Content of Series
Series 7) SUBJECT FILES
Papers related to the Pacific Science Association's committee on coral reefs of the Pacific. The third Pan Pacific Science
Congress (1927) resolved that a "comprehensive plan" for the study of coral reefs be drawn up by an international committee
composed of "biologists, oceanographers, and geologists." That international committee was originally headed by T. Wayland
Vaughn, who asked each participating country to form its own national subcommittee, with the chair of the new sub-body to
act as delegate to the international group. Vaughn passed the chairmanship of the American subcommittee on to Hoffmeister
in 1935. The files in this collection consist exclusively of the materials Vaughn forwarded to Hoffmeister; papers that may
have been generated during Hoffmeister's own tenure are not included.
Box 8, Folder 3-4
Pacific Science Association, International Committee on Oceanography. Coral Reefs of the Pacific
PHOTOGRAPHS AND NEGATIVES
Scope and Content of Series
Series 8) PHOTOGRAPHS AND NEGATIVES
The photographs and negatives in this series are of coral and limestone specimens Hoffmeister collected during his career.
There are proportionately more black and white contact sheets of pictures of Florida corals than of any other subjects.
Box 8, Folder 5
Australian deep sea corals
1933
Box 8, Folder 7
Loggerhead Key and Bird Key Reef Corals, Tortugas, Florida
1932
Box 8, Folder 8
Negatives, 35mm color film [corals]
ca. 1960s
ARTIFACTS AND GEOLOGICAL SPECIMENS
Scope and Content of Series
Series 9) ARTIFACTS AND GEOLOGICAL SPECIMENS
A small box of types of foraminifera (in vials and on cross-sectional slides) Hoffmeister collected in Tonga, and three South
Pacific artifacts (a war club and two walking sticks).
Box 8, Folder 9
Tonga foram (?) types -- specimens, vials, cross-sectional slides
Oversize TS-91
Tongan war club -- tree branch, c. 4 ft long, diameter c. 3", fine carving in bottom 12", suggesting handle
Oversize AB-27-F01
Walking stick - Approx. 3 ft. long, smooth-sided and slender
Oversize AB-27-F02
Walking stick - Approx 3 ft. long with burls
Oversize FB-235
Tapa cloth
General
Condition: fair to poor. Three specimans of printed cloth.