PETERSEN, William J.

Photo courtesy: Telegraph Herald

PETERSEN, William J. "Steamboat Bill” (Dubuque, IA, Jan. 30, 1901--Dubuque, IA, Feb. 2, 1989). America's dean of historians of life on the MISSISSIPPI RIVER. Petersen attended PRESCOTT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL and graduated from DUBUQUE SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL. His classmates in 1920 chose him as Best All-Around Man, Most Popular Boy, and Class Politician. He earned a bachelor's degree from the UNIVERSITY OF DUBUQUE and a master's degree and Ph.D from the University of Iowa.

In deciding what he would write for his dissertation, Petersen had planned on "George Channing and the Oregon Boundry." Many years later, he claimed to remember the reaction of his professor when he heard of Petersen's background:

            Petersen, I will personally pull the rope that hangs
            you to yonder tree if you don't start working on the
            history of steamboating on the Upper Mississippi. (1)

Researching his doctoral dissertation was carried out by Petersen hitchhiking approximately 20,000 miles stopping in nearly every river town library for information about the river. Petersen later said the experience cost him $84.00 with less than two dollars spent on transportation. Expanded later with additional research, Petersen's Steamboating on the Mississippi is acknowledged as one of the finest histories of commerce on the Mississippi.

Petersen worked for the Drake University Historical Tours for six years and was a visiting professor at Washington University, St. Louis. From 1930 to 1968 he taught Iowa history at the University of Iowa. In 1947, after serving seventeen years as a research associate at the State Historical Society of Iowa, Peterson was appointed Superintendent. He held that position for twenty-five years.

Petersen credited his fascination with the river to his father, a German sail maker who served as the Dubuque agent for the Diamond Jo Steamboat Lines. (2) In 1932 Petersen discovered a letter written by Henry Rowe SCHOOLCRAFT, the discoverer of Lake Itasca, the headwaters of the Mississippi. Schoolcraft explained that he named the lake by combining two Latin words "veritas caput" meaning "truth head" and taking the three middle syllables.

In 1928 Petersen found Mark Twain's steamboat pilot license while searching through old files, in St. Louis, Missouri. A collector of nearly anything associated with the Mississippi, he compiled a collection of over four hundred pieces dealing with the river. (3) Between 1947 and 1973, Petersen authored nearly four hundred articles for The Palimpsest, the society's magazine. This earned him the nickname, "Mr. Iowa History." After successfully lobbying for state government financing of nearly forty roadside plaques around Iowa detailing local historical spots, he began writing their texts. (4) His efforts to increase the society's membership were widely acknowledged. With his guidance, membership rose from 1,100 to nearly 11,000 in 1972.

Petersen was a member of the Iowa Centennial Commission, co-chaired the United States Territorial Papers Committee, and was a member of the Herbert Hoover Birthplace Society. He was instrumental in raising a portion of the $500,000 cost and persuading the Iowa legislature to build the Centennial Building in Iowa City, home of the State Historical Society of Iowa, in 1960.

Petersen's research led to more than 400 articles for magazines and scholarly journals. Among the books he authored were True Tales of Iowa(1931) ,Iowa: The Rivers of Her Valleys (1941), A Reference Guide to Iowa History (1942), and Towboating on the Mississippi (1980). The Story of Iowa: The Progress of an American State (1952) comprised four volumes with the last two biographies of Iowans, families genealogies, and histories of businesses and institutions collected by the publishers. (5) Copies of Petersen's Mississippi River Panorama: Henry Lewis Great National Work (1979) were sold by the DUBUQUE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY to raise money for the Upper Mississippi Riverboat Museum and some work on the HAM HOUSE. (6)

In 1986 Petersen received one of the first achievement awards from the NATIONAL RIVERS HALL OF FAME in Dubuque. Petersen was honored in July 1989, by the State Historical Society of Iowa as the first recipient of the Petersen-Harlan Award, named in his honor and that of Edgar R. Harlan, the former curator of the Iowa Historical Department in Des Moines. (7)

In 1990 the UNIVERSITY OF DUBUQUE library received a $16,670 grant from the State Historical Society of Iowa to catalog and preserve the 925-volume William J. 'Steamboat Bill' Collection which included forty boxes of archival material. (8)

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Source:

1. Loh, Jules. "Historian Makes Mark--Different," The Evening News, April 17, 1977, p. 14. Online: http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=-h1gAAAAIBAJ&sjid=FW4NAAAAIBAJ&pg=1128,3118395&dq=william+j+petersen+dubuque&hl=en

2. Loh, Jules. " 'Steamboat Bill' Is Expert on Mississippi," Youngstown Daily Vindicator, April 19, 1977., p. 35. Online: http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=qBFcAAAAIBAJ&sjid=C1UNAAAAIBAJ&pg=3540,1809613&dq=history+of+german+bank+dubuque&hl=en

3. Ibid.

4. Ibid.

5. "4 Volume 'Story of Iowa' Rich in Dubuque Lore," Telegraph Herald, June 15, 1952, p. 17. Online: http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=HyFRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=wdQMAAAAIBAJ&pg=6354,2802217&dq=william+j+petersen+dubuque&hl=en

6. Riverboat Museum Gets Historic Tag," Telegraph Herald, October 28, 1979, p. 21. Online: http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=yfZFAAAAIBAJ&sjid=v_wMAAAAIBAJ&pg=5579,4223407&dq=william+j+petersen+dubuque&hl=en

7. Chanaud, Timothy. "State Historical Society Lauds 'Steamboat Bill' for River Work," Telegraph Herald, July 28, 1988, p. 2. Online: http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=sYZjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=7nkNAAAAIBAJ&pg=2739,5410357&dq=william+j+petersen+dubuque&hl=en

8. "Area Applicants Win Grants For Historic Preservation," Telegraph Herald, September 28, 1990, p. 2. Online: http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=NVxFAAAAIBAJ&sjid=5rsMAAAAIBAJ&pg=5536,6473655&dq=william+j+petersen+dubuque&hl=en

Hudson, David; Bergman, Marvin and Horton, Loren. The Biographical Dictionary of Iowa. University of Iowa Press, Iowa City, 2008