Louis C. Hunter (1899-1984)
Louis C. Hunter’s incomparable contribution to river history was his incisive view of the economic and technological aspects of steamboating. His three-volume History of Industrial Power in the United States: 1780-1930, which took 30 years to complete, is considered a masterwork in the field of the history of technology.

Born in Wellsburg, Virginia, Hunter graduated from Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, received his master’s degree from Harvard in 1922 and his doctoral degree from there in 1928. Dr. Hunter joined the faculty of American University, Washington D.C., in 1937, where he taught until his retirement in 1966. Dr. Hunter’s Studies in Economic History: The Ohio Valley is an account of the growth of early iron industry. His Steamboats on the Western Rivers (1949) remains the definitive study of steamboating and the standard by which any serious work on river history must be judged.

 

 

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