The Case Of The Missing Historical Society

In “The View from Fourth & Olive” (December, 1979), we inadvertently referred to the “St. Louis Historical Society” as the owners of the Easterly daguerreotypes featured in the article. The correct institution, of course, is the Missouri Historical Society in St. Louis, and we extend our sincere apologies. So far as we know, there is no such thing as a St. Louis Historical Society.

On a more pleasant note, we heard from Vincent P. Lane, a park technician with the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial in St. Louis, who pointed out something curious regarding the Easterly photograph on pages 78-79: “In the photograph there is a steamboat which bears the name Federal Arch. Isn’t it ironic that this steamboat was photographed where later there would be another federal arch—that is, the Gateway Arch of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial?” Indeed, the splendid Gateway Arch does span most of what once was the busy St. Louis waterfront. Reproduced above is a detail from the Easterly daguerreotype showing the Federal Arch .