The Waterways Journal Collections
HISTORY: Existing since 1887, The Waterways Journal is America's oldest continuously
published inland waterways trade magazine. Current issues reflect today's
barge and towing industry. Tracing the history and development of river transportation,
it has long been known as "The Riverman's Bible."
The Waterways Journal collections include editorial research
files dating from the 1890s, and cover a broad array of waterway
topics such as national water use and transportation policy, competition with
other forms of transportation, port development, and environmental concerns.
Government agencies, establishing policy and regulating waterways; and private
organizations, lobbying on behalf of waterway development, influence the course
of the rivers. Their interaction and influence are well documented.
SCOPE:Includes clippings from The Waterways Journal and other publications; reports from government agencies and corporations; and reports and commentary on issues of importance to the waterways community.
The Waterways Journal research collection materials are arranged into 16 series:General; Biographies; Boat Information; River Columns; Lock and Dam 26; Periodicals; Ports and Terminals; Railroads; Scrapbooks; St. Louis; U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; Upper Mississippi River Basin Commission; User Charges; U.S. Government documents; Photographs; and Oversized Materials.
The library has microfilm copies of The Waterways Journal periodical from 1891 to the present. Also available are bound volumes of The Waterways Journal from 1924 until the present, with the exception of five missing volumes that contain issues from 1925-1926, 1927-1928, 1935-1936 and 1943-1944.
HOLDINGS: 219 linear feet of papers, pamphlets, booklets, maps, photographs, newspaper clippings, government documents, environmental impact statements and scrapbooks which were the editorial research files of the publishers, editors, and writers. Bound and microfilm copies of the published issues.
ACCESS: This is Special Collection P-1. Some of the collection may be photocopied, digitally scanned, or photographed, depending on condition and restrictions.
An on-line index to articles from The Waterways Journal is available for the years 1891- 1913. This index is periodically updated. More information about obtaining isues and articles.A printed finding aid for the editorial research collection is available, A Guide to the Research Files of The Waterways Journal (1989), however, on-line searching is recomended.
Search On-line:
Database of the Editorial Research Files of The Waterways Journal Research Files
Search the index for articles in The Waterways Journal (1891 - 1916) Articles
Alphabetical cross-listing of subjects indexed in The Waterways Journal Subject List
Capt. Donald T. Wright
The Waterways Journal Editor and Publisher,
1921-1965
Capt. Donald T. Wright and Sam Smith
Capt. Donald T. Wright Correspondence
(From the Capt. Donald T. Wright Collection, P-26)
Some of the collection may be photocopied, digitally scanned, or photographed, depending on condition.