William C. Baughman (source: infinity-studio.com)
William C. Baughman – Graduated 1939; Inducted 1989
Following graduation from Alliance High School, William Baughman entered the Ohio State School of Journalism in 1940. His college years were interrupted by World War II and in 1942 he joined the Army Air Corps as a photographer. In 1943 he was assigned to the Army Air Corps Motion Picture Unit at Hal Roach Studios. From 1943 to 1945, Mr. Baughman was a combat cameraman with the 13th Jungle Air Force Unit where he photographed combat from Guadalcanal to the Battle of the Philippines.
Following the war Mr. Baughman returned to Ohio State University where he received his B.A. degree in 1946, followed by his Master’s Degree in magazine journalism from Northwestern University’s Magill School of Journalism in 1951. From 1952 to 1954 he was the pictorial editor for National Geographic introducing modern layout techniques to the magazine. While in New York City on business, he met his future spouse, Helen, through a chance meeting with her roommate. They were married in February of 1954.
William C. Baughman, Army Air Corps combat cameraman, World War II.
Mr. Baughman has dedicated most of his working years to the promotion of photography as a universal language on the printed page and on the screen, crossing language barriers through photography’s informing power as a universally understood communication medium.
Active in the Boy Scouts, he achieved the rank of Life as a youth and, as an adult, has always been willing to assist scouts in getting their photography merit badge. Biographical update: William Baughman passed away on September 14, 1994 and Helen Baughman passed away on June 15, 1994. They are buried together in Lakeview Cemetery in Cleveland, Ohio. They were survived by a son who has since passed on, a daughter Barbara (Carl) Berke who lives in Brookline Massachusetts and two grandchildren.
In addition to his interest in photography, William Baughman and his high school friend Bob Rickard had an interest in underwater diving in their youth. As indicated by this 1937 Alliance Review article (right), they explored the bottoms of area bodies of water using homemade equipment that they improvised themselves. |
In the late 1950’s he moved to Chicago to work for World Book Encyclopedia who became known for their inclusion of photographs to enhance their comprehensive summaries of information. The death of his mother took William and Helen to Cleveland where in 1964 he became the editor of Metalfax Magazine, the largest metalworking magazine in the United States with a circulation of 105,000.
In 1975 Mr. Baughman took the position of Museum Editor for the Cleveland Museum of Natural History and Editor of The Explorer Magazine. He was also a columnist for 17 years with the Cleveland Press writing a column called Photo Info and he operated a picture agency called Foto-Find. 
|