Robert Ervin Coker (1876-1967) was azoologist and marine biologist, associated with the United States Bureau ofFisheries from 1902 to 1923, professor at the University of North Carolina, ChapelHill, from 1923 to 1949, and author. The collection includes professional papers of R.E.Coker, earlier Coker and McIver family papers, and Coker family history material.Coker's correspondence and other materials chiefly concern his research, writing,and publications on marine life; the Zoology Department and other divisions of theUniversity of North Carolina; national, regional, and state professionalorganizations; biological stations of the United States Bureau of Fisheries andother laboratories in Massachusetts, New York, Virginia, Iowa, and North Carolina;cooperation with the North Carolina Board of Conservation and Development; andconsultations with other government units, domestic and foreign, for the practicalapplication of fisheries research. There are also materials relating to Coker's workwith the Chapel Hill school board between 1930 and 1947 and to his other communityactivities. Family papers include maps, will, deeds, genealogical notes, and diariespertaining to the Coker family farm near Hartsville, Darlington County, S.C., and tofamily and Darlington County history. Included is a diary kept by Coker'sgrandmother, Sarah Witherspoon Ervin McIver, between 1854 and 1889.
