Gordon Reid Coffin, a native of Minneapolis, Minnesota, is a life-long Quaker. This collection documents his experience, from 1942 to 1946, as a participant in Civilian Public Service (CPS), the alternative service program for conscientious objectors during World War II. Coffin was originally assigned to the CPS camp at Coshocton, Ohio, which was under the supervision of the American Friends Service Committee, and much of the collection concerns his experiences there. In November 1942 Coffin, who had a Masters degree in forestry, was transferred on detached service to Ohio State University in Columbus, and spent the rest of the war dividing his time between there and the state agricultural station in Wooster. The Gordon R. Coffin Collection consists entirely of photocopied material. It includes letters, diary entries, photographs, pamphlets, flyers, and maps, all connected by a narrative that Coffin prepared in 1990.