Edwin Buffington Papers

Provenance

These papers are a collection of letters and photographs donated by David Rain, who acquired these materials from John Koch, a Chelsea antiques dealer, in 1993, shortly after Buffington’s death in the year preceding. Koch purchased Buffington’s estate, but had only wanted the furniture. Rain acquired these photographs and papers from Koch free of charge. Though some of the photographs were submitted loosely, a majority of these photographs were grouped into envelopes labeled with summary descriptions. It is unclear who labeled these envelopes. Many envelopes with descriptive labels include several descriptions, often times their categorical relationships between one another unclear. The processing of this collection was completed in the summer of 2012.

Use Restrictions

No personal names or identifying information about any person appearing in these papers who might still be alive may be published.

Scope and Content

This collection would be of interest to those seeking insight into the lives of gay men in Greenwich Village in the 1940s to 1960s letters detailing long-distance love affairs in the City and at their weekend retreats, as well as hundreds of snapshots of house parties, beachfronts, street scenes, and drag queens.

History or Bio

We know little of the biography of our subject. We do know that Edwin Buffington lived in New York City during at least a period of the 1940s, ’50s, and ’60s.

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