Born and raised in Brockton, Massachusetts, photographer Stanley Bauman (1913-2007) spent his entire life capturing photos that document the history of Brockton and Southeastern Massachusetts. In 1998, after receiving the President's medal at Stonehill College's annual President's Dinner, Mr. Bauman announced he would leave his entire life's work to the college after his death. When Mr. Bauman past away in 2007, the collection, which includes over 500,000 negatives from the 1930s-2003 along with numerous prints, slides, scrapbooks and artifacts, was moved the five miles from Mr. Bauman's home in Brockton to its new home at Stonehill.
The Stonehill College Archives and Historical Collections’ staff is currently working on a long-term project to process the collection that will ensure its preservation and researcher access. This process involves cleaning the collection, assessing negatives for damage and preservation concerns, placing negatives into archival enclosures and boxes, andcreating electronic finding aids to the collection using Bauman's handwritten and typed paper indexes. During this process, the collection is open on a limited basis. To date over 25,000 envelopes containing over 100,000 negatives have been processed and indexed.
The Stanley A. Bauman Photograph Collection is a treasure trove of information. Covering over 70 years of southeastern Massachusetts' history, the collection touches on a wide range of topics that include sports, politics, education, law enforcement, and civic organizations. Additionally, the collection lends itself to the analysis of key trends and issues specific to life in twentieth century America, such as the development of local industry, urban renewal, civil rights, and gender equality. Besides these specific topics, trends, and issues, the collection provides a unique look into every-day American life from the 1930s to 2003. Scholars working in the fields of history, anthropology, sociology, political science, arts administration, American Studies, and criminology will find the collection offers plenty of opportunities to pursue either specific or broad avenues original research.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
