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THOMAS E. TAPPAN, JR., STEAMBOAT COLLECTION

Mississippi River steamboat photographs and scrapbooks, 1811- 1930
Manuscript Collection MC 416

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THOMAS E. TAPPAN, JR.

Thomas E. Tappan was a native of eastern Arkansas and attended the University of Arkansas in the late 1920s and early 1930s, though he never graduated because of financial pressures due to the Depression. He joined the CCC, was called into active duty in the Army in 1940, and retired from the Army after more than twenty years of service. He was an automobile dealer, accountant, and office manager, retiring from business in 1976. He has been active in the Phillips County Historical Society and contributed frequently to historical publications. In 1972 he began giving lectures on steamboat history at the National River Academy at Helena.

THE COLLECTION

Photographs, scrapbooks, and other material pertaining to steamboats on the Mississippi River, 1811-1930, particularly in the Helena and Memphis areas, were donated to Special Collections or loaned for copying by Thomas E. Tappan, Jr., Memphis, Tennessee, October, 1981.

The collection was assembled by the donor starting in 1966 by copying or collecting materials from publications and private collections.

The collection consists of some 140 individual prints, nearly 400 negatives (mostly 35 mm), and 12 scrapbooks containing clippings, notes, correspondence, and some 350 additional photographs. The photographs are mainly copies of older photographs, or copies from publications.

Processed by Nan Lawler, August 1988. Special Collections Division, University of Arkansas Libraries, Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Series 1. Scrapbooks. Boxes 2-3.

Scrapbooks contain mainly clippings and photographs of steamboats (by name) or steamboat lore.

Enclosed in quotation marks for each volume are Tappan's volume number(s) and title or summary of contents as found on the front cover. This is followed by a description of the general contents of each volume, including a listing of numbered photographs (if any) in each volume.

Tappan numbered most of his photographs, except for those in Volume 9, prefixing each number with "S-." This system has been maintained. None of Tappan's photograph numbers were changed.

Box 2
Volume 1
"1. MASTER RECORD OF (copy) Articles by Thomas E. Tappan and Index of Steamboat Scrapbooks, Pictures and Slides. 1981." Contains inventory of scrapbooks (some of which are not included in this collection), bibliography and copies of Tappan's articles on steamboating (1970-1981), copies of other articles by Tappan, and copies of newspaper and magazine articles mentioning him.
Volume 2
"2. STEAMBOAT DIRECTORY. Volume #1. A to G. Thomas E. Tappan." Contains newspaper and magazine clippings, brochures, and a few (unnumbered) photographs and postcards. Steamboats are arranged alphabetically by name, and include a few boats not powered by steam. Included is information on steamboats and navigation on rivers other than the Mississippi.
Volume 3
"3. STEAMBOAT DIRECTORY. Volume #2. H to M. Thomas E. Tappan." Continues Volume 2 above and contains much the same kind of material.
Volume 4
"4. STEAMBOAT DIRECTORY. Volume #3. N to Z. Thomas E. Tappan." Continues Volumes 2 and 3 above.
Volume 5
"5. STEAMBOAT SCRAPBOOK #2. COLLECTION BY THOMAS E. TAPPAN, JR." Contains clippings, notes, and some correspondence on the Pelican, ferries, Nettie Johnson (woman river pilot) and the Johnson family, the Delta Queen, and the Mississippi Queen. Includes photographs S-45, S-89, S-139, S-269, S-270, S-381, and S-450 (all color prints).
Volume 6
"6. STEAMBOAT SCRAPBOOK #3. COLLECTION BY THOMAS E. TAPPAN, JR. Hi-Water, 1922, 1927, 1937, 1973. Helena Riverfront Park, 1976. Ice--1940. Joe Fowler, Mary Woods #2, La Salle II Expedition, Far West, Blackhawk, Miss Lily Peter, Mrs. Sue Bradford, Capt. Lexie Palmore." Contains newspaper and magazine clippings, brochures, correspondence, notes, programs, and photographs S-4, S-46 - S-49, S-100, S-151, S-192, S-195 - S197, S-284, S-383 - S-399, S-484, S-485, S-607, S-695 - S-793 (color and black and white prints, color postcards).
Box 3
Volume 7
"7. STEAMBOAT PICTURES #8. COLLECTION BY THOMAS E. TAPPAN." Contains list of Tappan's photographs (not all of which are in this collection) and photocopies of about 400 of them. They were originally in rough numerical order; they have been slightly rearranged to put them in numerical order except when more than one image was photocopied on a single sheet. Even in these cases, no image should be more than a page or two out of order. NOTE: For the most part, these photocopies are of higher quality than the copy prints in Series 2. Eleven photographs originally in vinyl sleeves in Volume 7 have been removed and filed in Series 2, Subseries 1. Prints U-1 through U-3 in Series 2, Subseries 2, were apparantly photographed directly from the vinyl sleeves and show the original arrangement of the photographs.
Volume 8
"8. The Great Steamboat Race. The Rob't E. Lee vs the Natchez June 30 - July 4, 1870, New Orleans to St. Louis *** Steamboat & River Articles by Duane Huddleston & Others. White River, Arkansas." Clippings and photocopies of magazine and newspaper articles, including modern competition for Koenig Trophy (began with 1870 race) and modern steamboats.
Volume 9
"#9. Box 1/1. HISTORIC HELENA. WEST HELENA. Scrapbook #6. Backup material for the Booklet HISTORIC HELENA, WEST HELENA, 1973, THOMAS E. TAPPAN." Clippings, photocopies, typed notes, brochures, maps, and about 160 postcards and photographs (unnumbered) pertaining to the history of Helena and West Helena, including views and information about historic buildings.
Volume 10
"10. Trips on the DELTA QUEEN. Memphis to Little Rock, 1972. Memphis to Carruthersville, 1970. Little Rock, Race w/ BORDER STAR 1973." Clippings, photocopies, typed notes, correspondence, brochures, and photographs S-316 - S-380 (mainly color prints), as well as a few unnumbered pictures.
Volume 11
"13. MISSISSIPPI RIVER #1." Clippings, photocopies, and brochures about the Mississippi River and river traffic, with some articles about the Mississippi's tributaries.
Volume 12
"14. RIVER LORE." Clippings from The Waterways Journal, other magazines, and newspapers, concerning the Mississippi River and river traffic, maps, and brochures.
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Series 2. Photographs. Box 1.

Almost all of the photographs are 5" x 7" copy prints made from originals in Tappan's collection.

Subseries 1. Individual prints numbered with Tappan's "S-" prefix.

These photographs are arranged by Tappan's "S-" number order, roughly in alphabetical order by name of the boat for the first 180, starting the alphabet again with S-181, and then at about S- 400, apparently numbered as they were added to the collection. To locate pictures of a particular boat or pertaining to a particular subject, see index.
Box 1

Subseries 2. Originally unnumbered (or number not identified) individual prints..

These were given a "U-" prefix and numbered during processing.
Box 1 (cont.)
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Series 3. Other Material. Box 1.

Box 1 (cont.)
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Series 4. Negatives. In Special Collections negative storage.

There are a total of 15 negative files containing 35 mm negatives as well as some 40 individual negatives (mostly 2 1/2"). For the exact location of any negative, see Numerical List of Images at end of finding aid.

Negative Files #1 through #9 were made for Special Collections from Tappan's original photographs. Each of these files has a proof sheet, and each image is identified by Tappan's "S-" numbers. These files are stored in Folder 1. Folder 1 also contains negatives that have been made since processing (stored in unnumbered negative files).

Negative Files #10 and #11 contain older 35 mm negatives. There are no proof sheets for these, though the images are identified by "S-" numbers. They are stored in Folder 2, which also contains several more unnumbered negative files in which originally loose negatives were placed after processing.

Negative Files #12 through #15 contain 35 mm color negatives. Although a few of these are identified by "S-" number, most are not. Many have no corresponding prints in the collection. The unidentified negatives seem to include photographs of the Border Star and other boats (Negative File #12), a 1982 trip on the Natchez (Negative File #13), additional photographs of the dedication of Miss Lily Peter (Negative File #14), and additional photographs of the LaSalle re-enactment (Negative File #15). These files, together with 5 individual color negatives (placed in an unnumbered negative file after processing), are stored in Folder 3.

Although negatives are normally not available for research, because of the extremely poor quality of prints in Series 2, the negatives in this collection may be examined by researchers, so long as negatives are not removed from their protective sleeves.

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