Memorial scholarship honors legacy of late heritage center board member

The scholarship in memory of Matt Bauman was awarded to intern Nick Alverson.

Nick Alverson, far right, an intern at the McKeesport Regional History and Heritage Center, is shown with the family of the late Matt Bauman, including his parents, Tom and Pam, wife, Sam and children Jack, 11 and Theo, 8. Taylor Brown / Mon Valley Independent

Matt Bauman spent his life preserving the past — both as a passionate history teacher at McKeesport Area High School and as a devoted board member of the McKeesport Regional History and Heritage Center.

Though he passed away in 2020 at age 38, Bauman’s impact lives on.

On Thursday morning, his legacy took a new form as his parents, Tom and Pam Bauman, along with his wife, Sam, and two sons Jack and Theo, presented a memorial scholarship in his honor to Gettysburg College intern Nicholas Alverson—a young historian with roots in McKeesport and a future steeped in uncovering the past.

“Matt was the historian. The rest of us were just fans of history,” said Tim Kunes, executive director of the McKeesport Regional History & Heritage Center. “He was the real deal. And honestly, Nick is like that too — he’s a genuine historian.”

Alverson, a Pittsburgh native majoring in archaeological anthropology with minors in Civil War era studies and public history, has been interning at the center since early June.

Originally aiming for a future in archaeology, his experience this summer shifted his focus.

“This internship really changed my path,” Alverson said. “Now I’m seriously considering pursuing a master’s in public history. I didn’t expect that when I started.” What started as a credit- earning internship quickly turned into something more.

Alverson exceeded his required hours, jumped into multiple projects, and became an essential part of the team. From designing materials to creating a comprehensive intern handbook, to reviving long-forgotten initiatives like the center’s 1995 time capsule, Alverson’s initiative made a lasting impression.

“He’s been a lifeline,” Kunes said. “I’m still new here and things can get overwhelming sometimes, but I can hand something to Nick and he just runs with it.”

That kind of work ethic and passion made Alverson the natural choice for an inaugural scholarship in Bauman’s honor.

Kunes suggested the idea to the Bauman family who knew right away it was a good fit.

Matt’s parents saw it as a tribute to their son’s enduring dedication to local history and education.

“As Tim said, it’s just kind of a reflection of Matt,” Tom Bauman said. “From an early age, he loved history. Maybe his first love was studying it, but his second was definitely sharing it. He lived for this place.”

Matt Bauman himself started as an intern at the heritage center before becoming a board member—and eventually vice president.

His presence was constant, his dedication unmatched.

“He practically lived here,” his wife Sam Bauman joked. “The boys ran around while he worked, and it just became part of who we are. They basically grew up in here.”

Now, that torch is being passed as staff at the center find young people, like Alverson, to step up.

While Alverson will return to Gettysburg College this fall, there’s already talk of him coming back to the center over winter break—and perhaps beyond.

“To have someone like Nick here, with not just the skills but the connection to this region—it means something,” Kunes said. “He’s the next generation. And that’s what we need.”

Alverson agrees. “I’m honored,” he said. “Not just to have this opportunity, but to meet Matt’s family, to learn about who he was, and to be seen as someone worthy of carrying on what he stood for. It’s huge. And I promise, I won’t waste it.”

While he once envisioned a future focused solely on archaeology, his hands-on experience at the heritage center has opened his eyes to the power of connecting communities to their own histories.

“There aren’t many programs that offer a true public history degree,” he said, “but that’s what I’m drawn to now—finding ways to help people rediscover their roots, just like I did here.”

Alverson’s connection to McKeesport runs deep — more than 200 years deep, by his own family research.

Through multiple ancestral lines, his roots in the region stretch back generations, a fact that fueled his early interest in genealogy and local history.

“I remember coming here a couple years ago when my grandfather started a family membership,” he said. “There wasn’t much on the relatives I knew had lived here, and that got me thinking— what else is hidden in the archives?”

That curiosity eventually led him to the Heritage Center, where his work now helps others trace their own family stories across the same streets his ancestors once walked.

Looking ahead, Alverson plans to complete his final two years at Gettysburg College and pursue graduate studies in public history— potentially at Duquesne University.

For Alverson, the internship was more than a résumé booster—it was a turning point.

As he heads back to Gettysburg, Alverson carries not just a scholarship in Matt Bauman’s name, but a sense of purpose rooted in the very community that helped shape him.