St. Louis History Photostat Collection
Finding Aid by Katherine A. Terry and Jacqueline E. Mitchell
April 2025
INTRODUCTION TO THE COLLECTION
The arrangement and description of this series began in March 1989 as one of the earliest processed collections of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial Archives (now the Gateway Arch National Park Archives). The collection consists of photostats of maps, book excerpts, architectural drawings, illustrations, and a variety of other materials. Later photocopies are also included; for the purposes of this introduction, all such images will be referred to as photostats. Most of these photostats were created from materials dating to the 1880s, though some precede or postdate that era. The majority relate to the development and history of St. Louis, though a few unexpected subjects appear, such as a folder devoted to international windmills.
The Photostat machine was an early projection photocopier developed in the 1900s by the Commercial Camera Company, later known as the Photostat Corporation. The name "Photostat," originally a trademark, became a generic term used for similar machines and for the copies they produced. Photostat machines operated using a large-format camera that exposed documents directly onto long rolls of sensitized photographic paper. A prism reversed the image during capture, allowing the final print to retain legible text. After exposure, the paper was processed through chemical baths and then dried, either by air or machine. Because the image was captured directly without an intermediate negative, the result was a reverse (negative) print: white text on a black background. To produce a positive print, a second photostat could be made from the original. The entire process typically took about two minutes. Photostats were widely used in the early to mid-20th century. The verb “to photostat” entered common usage, much like “Xerox” would later come to mean any photocopy, regardless of the machine used.
Scant details remain about the origins of this collection. A Collections Processing Checklist and Summary, incomplete, shows processing was begun by Jacqueline Mitchell on March 29, 1989, under former Park Archivist Harry Heiss. The most telling indication of the origin of the Photostat Collection as a reference source comes from a letter found in Box 2, Folder 1. A copy of a transmittal letter from John L. Nagle, the first superintendent of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial (1936–1940), is dated January 20, 1938. To the Director of the National Park Service, and carbon copied to the Superintendent of Hot Springs National Park, it reads as follows:
Herewith, for the information and file of the Service, are photostatic copies of pages 351 to 368, inclusive, from a book entitled “A Tour of St. Louis or The Inside Life of a Great City,” by J. A. Dacus and J. W. Buel, published in St. Louis in 1878. This book was obtained by Mr. Peterson in the course of his researches into the early history of St. Louis. Quite unexpectedly, a fairly detailed description of Hot Springs, Arkansas, was encountered.
As the description of Hot Springs appears to be from firsthand sources, and as it might not otherwise have come to the attention of the Service, I take this liberty of transmitting it for such value as it may be found to contain.
Stamped dates on the backs of the photostats indicate they were primarily created in the 1930s and 1940s, which aligns with the heyday of photostat usage and the tenure of Mr. Nagle. The collection is housed in three standard-size archival boxes and one oversize box. All materials have been placed in acid-free folders for safekeeping.
Information obtained from this collection must be properly cited, whether used in publication or other formats. A citation suggested for this collection is:
National Park Service
Gateway Arch National Park Archives
St. Louis History Photostat Collection
Box ___, Folder ___
Researchers are advised that before any unpublished materials from this collection—such as records or photographs—can be published or exhibited, written permission must be obtained from the National Park Service.
