P-3: Ruth Ferris Collection of River Life and Lore HISTORY: Miss
Ruth Ferris was a river and steamboat historian and writer, and
one of the most respected educators of St. Louis for over a half
century. Besides her excellent scholarship, she traveled on the
rivers, recording these experiences, and she was a life-long
friend to river people, and those interested in the river. Her
collection of river objects and papers expanded out of her
basement to the River Room at the Missouri Historical Society,
to the Becky Thatcher Museum, and to their final home at the
Mercantile Library. SCOPE: This collection covers many aspects
of inland river history, particularly on the Mississippi
River.Included are extensive research files on vessels,
particularly the famous steam packets and excursion boats; river
locations and communities; and biographical information on
hundreds of individuals associated with the rivers. 10,000
photographs dated from 1870 to the 1970s, include rare images of
steamboats, river, communities, lan