Historical February 1990 report or notice. Original dates, prices and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
Richard Gruss, known as the “Gravois Photographer;’ documented the GermanAmerican South Side in his photographs, taken between the turn of the century and 1930.
The History Museum in Forest Park has selected eighty images of daily life in South St. Louis from the Richard Gruss collection for the exhibition “Down by the Gravois: Scenes of South St. Louis!’ The photographs are on view in the Jefferson Memorial Building through April during regular museum hours, 9:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday, and there is no admission charge.
The collection of 15,000 glass plate negatives depicts Gruss’ South St. Louis, Purchased in 1964 from his studio after his death, the negatives were recently donated to the Missouri Historical Society, which operates the History Museum, by H. K. Donnelly. Richard Gruss (1877-1964) emigrated to the United States from Germany in 1900, married his German sweetheart, and settled on Gravois Avenue in 1910.
He converted the second story of his home into a portrait studio and spent part of his time photographing community events.
His photographs of the South Side portray the established German-American settlement, at a time when more than one out of every seven St. Louisans were of German birth or origin.
Original photograph caption
Mail Delivery,c.1915. By wagon, or, if necessary, by sled, mail was delivered twice a day in the early20thcentury. View of an unidentified street from the exhibition,“Down by the Gravois: Scenes of South St.Louis,”at the History Museum in Forest Park. RichardGrusscollection, MissouriHistoricalSociety. The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, February1990, page8.
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, February 1990.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times1990_02.pdf, printed page(s) 8; PDF page(s) 8.
