Bowers Collection

Broome County Public Library

Frances Bowers at her dressing table, circa 1915 - Image Source

Collection Facts

Extent:

Dates of Original:

c. 1890 - 1920

Historical Context

Broome County is located in south-central New York. It was a major agricultural and industrial area during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Franck Taylor Bowers (1875 - 1932) was the son of Lamont Bowers, the financial advisor to John D. Rockefeller, and grew up in a wealthy Victorian environment. Bowers lived in Broome County and had a passion for the arts. Because of his passion, he became an artist and photographer.

Scope of Collection

This extensive glass-plate collection contains the work of Franck Taylor Bowers (1875-1932) a Broome County artist and photographer. The images depict the height of late nineteenth and early twentieth century life at home, on vacation, and with family and friends. Many of the images are local residents used as studies and models for a number of Bowers' paintings, which are located in several important regional and national museums.

Collection Note
This collection is held by the Broome County Historical Society.
The Broome County Historical Society was incorporated in 1919 and continues to pursue its mission to collect, preserve, and interpret the history of Broome County. Nearly a century later, the Society continues to play a vital role in preserving the history and heritage of Broome and maintains a collection of over 200,000 items housed in two repositories. Over 140,000 paper and archival items are housed in the Broome County Local History & Genealogy Center at the Broome County Public Library, including over 80,000 images. Since 2000, the Society has been an active partner, along with the Library, the Broome County Historian and the City of Binghamton Historian in bringing over years of history into one facility which is used by over 30,000 researchers each year.