William Henry Claflin, Jr.

Who was William Henry Claflin, Jr.?

William Henry Claflin, Jr. was a wealthy Boston businessman and amateur archaeologist. He did archaeological work in Utah and at Stallings Island in Georgia. The Peabody Museum at Harvard University houses a large collection that Claflin collected and donated.

William H. Claflin was born in 1893 in Swampscott, Massachusetts to William Henry Claflin and Carrie Avery Claflin. Bill Claflin attended Noble and Greenough School for Harvard College, graduating in 1915 with his A.B. In 1917, he married Helen Atkins of Belmont, Massachusetts.

Bill Claflin’s business achievements include acting as the president of the Boston Stock Exchange, president of the Soledad Sugar Company, treasurer of Harvard College and director of many companies and banks. Claflin also served as trustee of the Rockefeller Institute and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Claflin was a Resident Member of the Massachusetts Historical Society and Charter Member of the Massachusetts Archaeological Society.

In the late 1920s, Claflin and Raymond Emerson were sent on a pack trip by the Peabody Museum at Harvard University.