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November 29, 2000 Harriman Associates' gift will open library's Barrows Collection to public The Lewiston Public Library has received a $2,000 donation from Harriman Associates that will be used to buy equipment to make slides and photos in The Gridley Barrows Collection accessible to the public, Richard A. Speer, library director, announced. The collection includes over 5,000 color slides and more than 600 prints that document the architectural heritage of Lewiston-Auburn in the second half of the 20th century. Barrows, who died last year at age 87, was an architect who had spent 25 years at Harriman Associates, a full-service architecture and engineering firm in Auburn. He joined the firm in 1953 and managed an office in Boston from 1955 until 1961, when he returned to Maine. He retired in 1978 as Harriman Associates' director of design. "The collection is an amazing snapshot of Lewiston-Auburn architecture in the late 20th century and will be an invaluable resource for researchers, students and the general public for many years," library director Speer said. "Harriman Associates' donation will make it possible for us to purchase the computer and scanner we need to get the collection ready for use, since our current equipment just doesn't have the capacity to handle so many graphics. Our plans are to have the work completed by April 2001. We'll also be able to buy the archival-quality storage materials that will protect the original slides and photos." Rodney S. Boynton, an architect and principal at Harriman Associates, worked with Barrows when he first joined the firm. "Architecture was Gridley's passion. For all of us at the firm, he set an example of the dedication and integrity that is needed to provide a high level of quality design within the limits of budget and time," Boynton said. "We're especially pleased to be able to help make his collection available for use." The collection was donated to the library last year by Barrows' stepson, Erik Bradford Stocker, a New York resident. In addition to the slides and photos, it also includes Barrows' personal historical and architectural files — lecture notes, newspaper clippings, historical booklets published by area organizations, a complete set of documentation for area buildings on the National Register of Historic Places, and reports and proceedings from various Lewiston-Auburn groups which have worked to preserve, develop and/or promote the area's cultural and historic resources. Harriman Associates provides architecture and engineering design services for education, government, commercial and health care clients throughout New England. Based in Auburn, the firm was founded in 1870 and is the sixth-oldest design firm in the country. back to list