Coffin School Collection

The Coffin School collection includes early nineteenth-century portraits of prominent Nantucketers; paintings by accomplished island artist, Elizabeth Rebecca Coffin, a student of the renowned American painter Thomas Eakins; and works illustrating the history of the school. Artifacts, archives, and a large collection of books used by teachers and students of the school from the mid-nineteenth century and into the mid-twentieth century complete the Coffin School collection.

Additionally, the Egan Maritime Institute’s collection of paintings by contemporary artist Rodney J.K. Charman (b. 1944) records Nantucket’s rich maritime history from its beginnings in the seventeenth century through the end of the nineteenth century. Selections from both the Coffin School and Egan Maritime collections are exhibited periodically in the main hall.