At a special presentation at the Stanley Historical Museum on Monday evening, the Stanley Area Historical Society released “Vintage Views of Stanley-Brought to Life in Color,” a new color photo book compiled by David D. Plummer in collaboration with Stanley Area Historical Society President Dave Jankoski. Plummer’s sister, Michele Halterman was credited with editing of the publication along with input from Historical Society member Betty Plombon. A Stanley-Boyd High School graduate in 1976, Plummer used cutting-edge colorization technology and photo enhancement technology to bring the historical photos to life and allow community members to experience Stanley like never before.
“When did this book start? Well, over a hundred years ago when Grandma started taking pictures,” Plummer began as he showed attendees a photo of his grandmother, Margaret Plummer, with her new camera. Plummer shared that his grandmother, who settled in Stanley in 1885, was the family historian collecting many photos, newspaper clippings, postcards, and other memorabilia and along with her collection of historical mementos, she passed on her love of family history to him. One of the things that his grandma told him was to “find a good home for these photos.” Instead of donating the photos to museums, he began to put together a book showcasing his family’s history. After contacting Jankoski for information and photos for his own family history, Plummer said that they asked each other, “Why don’t we do a book on Stanley? And that’s where it started.” He said that the limitations of photography would only give black and white coloring but our ancestors experienced history in rich color so he took the black and white photos and used a state-of-the-art colorization process to painstakingly bring the town’s rich history to life. Due to this process, previously unseen small details and features of people were shown like never before resulting in a vivid experience that connects the readers to their ancestors. Plummer mentioned that they wanted to “portray it just as our ancestors saw it.”
“A lot of information from the Historical Society went into this.” Plummer stated that he was amazed at the cool pieces of information that the Society has. Interspersed among the photos, Plummer and Jankoski tied historical facts and mementos to highlight and pull out more details.
‘Vintage Views of Stanley’ highlights the history of Stanley while transporting readers back in time to experience the community the way their ancestors lived it and to see them in a new light. Plummer explained that the book is a tribute to his parents and a labor of love to their memories with all proceeds going to the Stanley Historical Society. “If we can present Stanley in a whole new light, we might have more people that want to look at this,” he explains.
The informative, eye-catching book is available for purchase at $35 for softcover and $45 for hardcover with an additional cost of $10 per book for any that need to be mailed. Books may be purchased through the Stanley Historical Society’s website at sahs2013.wixsite.com or at the Stanley Historical Museum during regular business hours beginning on June 8 through September. It’s a treat for history lovers old and young alike!
