Title: Dunbar M. Hinrichs Collection, 1917-1975
Predominant Dates:1939-1945
ID: RG1/049
Creator: Hinrichs, Dunbar M. (Dunbar Maury) (1894-1979)
Extent: 2.48 Cubic Feet. More info below.
Arrangement: The papers are sorted alphabetically first by material type, and then chronologically. The scrapbook, books, AFS Cairo “Members Only” sign, and a one painting are housed separately in oversized boxes. There is also one additional painting which is not boxed.
Dunbar Maury Hinrichs volunteered for the American Field Service (AFS) as a camion driver and administrator during World War I and II, and also had several volunteer roles within the organization in between the World Wars and after the AFS secondary school exchange programs were created in 1946. The Dunbar M. Hinrichs Collection consists of a variety of materials documenting his long involvement with AFS, including a scrapbook, sketches, correspondence, photographs, telegrams, published and unpublished writings, official AFS memos and circulars, two paintings by Hinrichs, and an AFS Cairo Clubhouse sign from World War II.
The Dunbar Hinrichs Collection consists of a variety of materials documenting his long involvement with AFS, including his volunteer service with the American Field Service during World Wars I and II, the AFS Association in between the wars, and the AFS secondary school exchange programs established in 1946.
The bulk of the collection includes papers related to his involvement with the American Field Service during the World Wars, including correspondence to and from Hinrichs while overseas, in which his growing involvement in the organization can be seen. Several notable people who corresponded regularly with Hinrichs include AFS Director General Stephen Galatti, Major William Perry, Assistant Director General William H. Wallace, W.W. Philips, French Colonel Richard Mallet, and later with George Rock, author of The History of the American Field Service, 1920-1955, to which Hinrichs contributed some of his wartime accounts. Within these letters Hinrichs suggested how to improve the AFS Cairo headquarters, including the implementation of daily schedules, an official organizational structure, rosters, and lists of equipment. There is also correspondence discussing his books about his AFS service, his mental health and personal life during his AFS service, as well as several letters to and from his wife, Edith Dorland Hinrichs. Other wartime documents include rosters of AFS volunteers, official identification cards, travel documents, newspaper clippings, AFS files and memos (including a list of personal equipment for volunteers), promotional materials, and receipts of purchases. There are also a number of personal writings by Hinrichs, some of which were early drafts of his later published books. Most of these writings, however, are essays or reports on his wartime activities, including how the AFS headquarters in Cairo during World War II could be improved. The collection also includes two speeches Hinrichs gave, in attempts to recruit volunteers and raise money during World War II.
In addition to the papers, the collection includes a scrapbook documenting his involvement in the World Wars. The scrapbook contains photographs, letters, AFS memoranda, and other media from 1917-1941, including his original pencil and watercolor drawings of Cairo, Italy, and France. Some loose materials were found tucked into pages of the scrapbook, which were separated into their own folder.
In addition to the World Wars, the collection also documents his involvement with the AFS Association and AFS secondary school exchange programs, including correspondence and early drafts of promotional material regarding fundraising for the AFS scholarship program, which Hinrichs worked on directly.
The collection also contains some of his artwork, including copies of both volumes of We Met By the Way, which contain inserts of sketches of the French countryside as well as portraits of other AFS volunteers. There are two paintings, one of abstract clouds with the original AFS logo, the other a drawing of a French town and a camion truck from World War II. Additional drawings and photographs taken by Hinrichs during his time in France and Cairo during the World Wars are contained in marked folders as well as within the scrapbook.
Alternate Extent Statement: 6 boxes, 1 loose painting
Access Restrictions: This collection is open for research. Permission to access the fragile scrapbook and oversized paintings is required in advance and will be at the discretion of AFS. The folder related to the AFS Board of Directors and Scholarship Committee is restricted from public access, and cannot be accessed without special permission.
Use Restrictions: Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. Permission to publish material from the collection must be submitted in writing to the AFS Archives. In the event that this research becomes a source for publication, a credit line indicating the Archives of the American Field Service and AFS Intercultural Programs is required. Researchers are responsible for determining any copyright questions.
Acquisition Method: The bulk of this collection was donated to the Archives of the American Field Service and AFS Intercultural Programs by an unknown donor at an unknown date. The scrapbook, several artifacts, and paintings were donated to AFS by Dunbar M. Hinrichs in the 1950s. The two copies of the first volume of We Met by the Way appears to have been given to Robert Applewhite and Arthur Howe, Jr. (separately), which were then given to the AFS Archives at an unknown date.
Related Materials: See RG2/006, Arthur Howe, Jr. Collection for more information on the AFS student exchange programs, RG1/001 American Field Service World War I Records for more information on unit TMU 526, and RG2/001, American Field Service World War II Records for more information on AFS in Cairo and for materials related to Hinrichs’s time in the Boston office. See the Dunbar M. Hinrichs scrapbook in the Rare Books and Manuscript Collections at the Carl A. Kroch Library at Cornell University for more information regarding Dunbar Hinrichs’s time at Cornell.
Preferred Citation: [Identification of item], [Date]; Dunbar M. Hinrichs Collection; Archives of the American Field Service and AFS Intercultural Programs, New York, NY.
Processing Information: This collection was processed by Drew Facklam, Kate Hicks, Yolanda Keahey, and Nicole Milano in 2018. This finding aid written byDrew Facklam, Bonnie Gordon, Kate Hicks, and Nicole Milano between 2013 and 2018, and was encoded in EAD by Nicole Milano in May 2018.
