Ralph S. Bauer

Ralph Sherman Bauer (January 31, 1867 – July 13, 1941) was a Massachusetts politician who served as the 38th Mayor of Lynn, Massachusetts.

Early life Bauer was born in Provincetown, Massachusetts. He attended Alfred University and graduated from Boston University in 1889.

Newspaper career In 1889, Bauer became the assistant manager of the New York Herald. He later served as circulation manager of the Chicago Herald and Post and from 1893 to 1898 he was the business manager of the St. Louis Star. In 1894 he married Fannie Miller in Chicago.

Civic activity Bauer organized the Essex County Board of Trade and the Lynn Chamber of Commerce. He also active in the creation of the Lynn Independent Shoemaking School and the Essex County Agricultural School. He was also part of a group that urged the state to build Lynn Shore Drive. In October 1919, Bauer was selected by Governor Calvin Coolidge to be part of the delegation that greeted the rulers of Belgium on their visit to Boston. In May 1917, Bauer was elected to serve as a member of the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention of 1917, representing the Massachusetts Seventh Congressional District.

Mayor of Lynn Bauer did not run for office again until 1925, when he was elected Mayor of Lynn. He ran a low-key, non-partisan campaign that focused on reigning in government spending.

Bauer was described by The Boston Daily Globe's Louis M. Lyons of "[ruling] Lynn with an iron hand. Mussolini has scarcely a freer hand and more direct personal Government than Ralph S. Bauer". In 1929, he ordered the police to arrest any female over the age of 12 who refused to wear full-length stockings.

Bauer also led a movement to replace the city's post office. He and 50 other businessmen purchased a lot near the railroad station and presented it to the federal government. He got the Congressional Committee on Post Offices to place Lynn near the top of the list for a new post office.