Brief Description: The David McMahon and Barbara Keeling Collection consists of material on Rockford, Illinois collected by David McMahon and Barbara Keeling from the 1910s to 2011.  The materials document the various religious, social, political, medical, and entertainment organizations, businesses, and events of Rockford, Illinois primarily in the later half of the twentieth century.  The collection also reflects McMahon and Keeling’s interest in Rockford history as they saved images and material related to Rockford’s early history while also saving material on important events and organizations in Rockford during the late twentieth century.  The collection consists of museum invitations and programs, political material, material on local educational institutions, newspaper clippings, newspapers, audiovisual material, and material from various organizations and events.  Of particular note are the photos of President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura Bush, that were mailed to voters in 2004 located in box 4, folder 39.  Also of note is a high school scrapbook of Elizabeth “Ellis” Raffl given to David McMahon by Ellis’ granddaughter, Lynn Boreen of Rockford, Illinois, located in Series IV.  Though the collection documents the history of Rockford, it also reflects the professional and social organizations of interest to Keeling and McMahon.  The collection has little personal correspondence and material related to McMahon and Keeling’s daily lives.

Record Series Number: RHC/RC/329

Volume: 7.0 Linear Feet

Acquired: 01/30/2013.

Arrangement: The collection is divided into four series: (I) Rockford History, Companies, and Organizations; (II) Newspaper Clippings; (III) Audio Visual Material; and (IV) Oversize Material.  The Audio Visual and Oversize series are further divided with Audio Visual divided into (A) Slides; (B) Tapes;( C) Buttons, Passes, and Artifacts; and (D) Photographs.  Oversize (IV) is divided into (A) Newspapers and (B) Various Oversize material.  The donor originally organized material in Series I roughly by decade.  It has been further divided by topic and chronologically within.  This means that information for an organization like Tinker Swiss Cottage, will appear numerous times throughout Series I.  Series II is arranged chronologically and consists primarily of 1950s Rockford newspaper reprints of turn of the century Rockford photos.  Series III, Audio Visual, is organized by subject and type, and then chronologically. Subseries D, Photographs, consist of photographs taken by David McMahon.  Series IV is organized chronologically. For additional information on the Rockford Institute/ Howard Center, see the Howard Center for the Family, Religion, and Society/Rockford Institute (RC 238) For information on the Rockford Historical Society see RC 268.  For additional information on Rockford, Illinois please consult the Regional History Center guides for further collections.

Access Restrictions: There are no restrictions on access to the collection.

Subject Index

Genres/Forms of Material

Rights/Use Restrictions: Property rights in the collection belong to the Regional History Center; literary rights are dedicated to the public.

Acquisition Notes: David McMahon  David McMahon of Rockford, Illinois received material from Barbara Keeling, also of Rockford, Illinois, in 1995 which was combined with his material and donated to the Regional History Center as the David McMahon and Barbara Keeling Collection on January 30, 2013. Additional records were donated at a later time.