Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art

Honoree

Samuel P. Harn graduated from the University of Florida in 1916 with a degree in agriculture. He headed to Key West, FL to work for the State Plant Board. Harn served in the U.S. Navy during World War I. After the war, he returned to Gainesville where he bought and operated the College Inn near UF’s campus. Years later, Harn moved back to Key West to work as a quarantine inspector for the State Plant Board until 1923.

Later, Mr. Harn served as Vice President of the Gainesville Candy Company and then as tax assessor and tax collector for the City of Gainesville. In 1941, he became manager of the Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce, where he remained until 1949. Harn is also credited with having a key role in the establishment of a U.S. postal substation for the University of Florida area. He was instrumental in organizing the John Henry Thomas Memorial Blood Bank in Gainesville. He was a member of the Kiwanis Club of Gainesville and served as national secretary for the American Camellia Society.

Harn was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), in 1952, which he battled until his death in 1957. In 1983, His daughter Mary Ann Cofrin and her family made a generous contribution to fund the building which bears her father’s name.

Facility History

The Harn Museum of Art, which opened in 1990, provides facilities for the exhibition, study and preservation of works of art. The contemporary, 62,000-square-foot museum, which is one of the largest visual arts facilities in Florida and one of the largest university art museums in the nation, has strong collections in Precolumbian ceramics, African sculpture, Oceanic objects, arts of India, contemporary painting and sculpture, interactive media center and American paintings, prints, photographs and drawings.

The University of Florida named its art museum the Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art in 1983 after receiving a significant contribution from members of the Harn Family.