S0486 Spreen, J. Orville (1897- ) Papers 1900-1982 524 Folders This collection is available at The State Historical Society of Missouri. If you would like more information, please contact us at [email protected]. BIOGRAPHY OF J. ORVILLE SPREEN J. Orville Spreen was born on August 19, 1897. He began working for the Wabash Railway in February 1912 at the age of 15. He started as an office boy in the joint offices of the General Superintendent of the Missouri District and General Attorney of the Burlington Railroad. He gradually worked his way up the ranks until he attained an executive position with the company. He retired in 1962 after 50 years of service to the Wabash Railroad. SCOPE AND CONTENT A great majority of the J. Orville Spreen collection consists of information compiled for use by the Junior Chamber of Commerce Historic Markers Committee. During the early 1940s the Committee was very active in St. Louis. Most, if not all, of the information they used to designate historic sites can be found here. Along with this information, the text revisions of each marker is included. In the process of designating sites, the Committee collected literature and information concerning St. Louis history and the history of various industries and businesses in St. Louis. Only a small portion of the collection concerns Spreen's personal and family life. The series entitled Spreen trips includes some information about vacations which Mr. and Mrs. Spreen took. This is, however, the extent of the information concerning Spreen personally. There simply is not that much information available. The truly valuable part of this collection is the photographs. Each construction stage of the Gateway Arch, the Stadium, and the Mansion House Apartments is captured on film. Spreen photographed all of the buildings which were razed in the course of these projects. The photographs themselves are candid photographs and some are of very poor quality. The real value of these photographs are Spreen's descriptions. He gives the exact location of the buildings in question and from where the photograph was taken. Often Spreen included a brief history of the building photographed. The photographs are also a record of the activities of the Historic Markers Committee. Some of the manuscripts and documents in this collection are very helpful to researchers. The real find, however, is the photos. The Spreen photos document many districts and buildings which no longer exist. Finally, in addition to Spreen's photographs, he also collected a variety of Dr. William Swekowsky's photographs, which are also an invaluable resource. SERIES DESCRIPTIONS SERIES 1, Gateway Arch: This series includes pamphlets and general information on the development of the Arch and the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. Dates range from 1938 to 1982. Folders 1 through 7. SERIES 2, Missouri History: Consists of books, pamphlets, workbooks, and programs and correspondence of the Missouri Historical Society. Dates from 1927 to 1979. Folders 8 through 19. SERIES 3, Missouri Tourist Information: Any type of tourist literature concerning Missouri can be found here. Pamphlets, flyers, maps, and guides are included. No dates are given on this material. Folders 20 through 30. SERIES 4, St. Louis Area Communities: The material in this series consists of published and unpublished information collected by Spreen concerning areas around the St. Louis area. Dates range from 1925 to the 1970s. Folders 31 through 41. SERIES 5, St. Louis Historic Markers Committee: This material documents the researches and activities of the Committee. Includes annual reports, brochures, and compiled data on a variety of topics. These topics include downtown, churches, cemeteries, amusement parks, St. Louis neighborhoods, and Laclede's landing. Also included is material used to determine historic sites. Dates include 1931 to 1982. Folders 42 through 167. SERIES 6, St. Louis History: General and compiled information on several St. Louis topics such as aviation, banking, the St. Louis bicentennial, businesses, city plans, the metal industry, garment industry, cattle industry, fine arts, and general St. Louis history. Dates range from 1903 to 1982. Folders 168 through 268. SERIES 7, Spreen Trips: This collection consists of all the tourist literature Spreen collected on some of his trips to different cities between 1955 and 1967. Folders 269 through 273. SERIES 8, Recordings: Only one recording is included here, "Are you getting your money's worth out of your money?" 45 rpm. Not dates. Folder 274. SERIES 9, Photographs: Photos of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, the Stadium, and the Mansion House Projects are included in this series. Also included are photos of markers, buildings, and sites the Junior Chamber of Commerce Historic Markers Committee felt were important in the St. Louis area. Dates range from 1890 to 1975. Folders 275 through 523. SERIES 10, Oversize Documents: Consists of maps, posters, flyers, St. Louis Today-- Reedy's Mirror (May 9, 1912), A St. Louis Heritage: Six Historic Homes, and a dust cover for The Crisis by Winston Churchill. Most documents are not dated. Folder 524. SERIES 11, Books: Consists of 8 books which can be found on the ookshelf. Dates range from 1883 to 1930. FOLDER LIST SERIES 1: Gateway Arch BOX 1 1. Jefferson National Expansion Memorial Museum, Benton, Thomas Hart Illustrations of M. Twain, nd 2. Jefferson National Expansion Memorial Booklets, nd 3. Arch: Flyers, Programs and Pamphlets, 1938-82 4. Arch: Literature, 1938-75 5. Jefferson National Expansion Memorial: Meeting Minutes, 1971-82 6. Arch: Postcards, nd BOX 2 7. Progress Report of Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, May 1940 SERIES 2: Missouri History 8. A Workbook in Missouri History by MC Morris and M McMillan, 1938 9. Civil War Material, 1961-65 10. Civil War Material, 1961-65 11. Economic Survey of Missouri, 1927 12. Mid-America Jubilee Exposition, 1953 BOX 3 13. Mississippi Valley Historical Association, 1963-66 14. Missouri Historical Society, Programs and Correspondence, 1946-79 15. Missouri Historical Society, Programs and Correspondence, 1952-66 16. Missouri Items: George Washington Carver and Wilson's Creek 17. Missouri Items: Part V, University of Missouri-St. Louis 18. The East St. Louis, Illinois, Waterfront: Historical Background, 1/20/69 BOX 4 19. We Elect! The Story of St. Louis Government and Politics, 1965 SERIES 3: Missouri Tourist Information 20. Missouri Literature, nd 21. Missouri Literature, nd 22. Missouri Literature, nd BOX 5 23. Missouri Tour Guides, nd 24. Missouri Tourist Literature, nd 25. Missouri Tourist Literature, nd 26. St. Louis Tourist Literature, nd 27. St. Louis Tourist Literature, nd BOX 6 28. St. Louis Tourist Literature 29. St. Louis Tourist Literature 30. Suggested St. Louis Tours, nd SERIES 4: St. Louis Area Communities 31. General, nd BOX 7 32. Alton, IL 33. DeSoto, MO 34. Franklin and Jefferson Counties, MO 35. Hermann, MO 36. Illinois 37. Illinois BOX 8 38. Missouri 39. Portage Des Sioux, 1925 40. St. Charles, MO 41. St. Charles region SERIES 5: St. Louis Historic Markers Committee 42. Amusement Parks in St. Louis 43. Annual Report, 1939 44. Annual Report, 1940 45. Annual Report, 1941 46. Annual Report, 1942 BOX 9 47. Annual Report, 1943 48. Annual Report, 1944 49. Annual Report, 1945 50. Annual Report, 1946 51. Brochures, nd 52. Brochures about St. Louis, nd BOX 10 53. Churches and Cemeteries, nd 54. County Parks, nd 55. Data Relevant to Fire of 1849 and St. Louis Rebuilding 56. Lewis and Clark, 1941-49 BOX 11 57. Data Relevant to Lewis and Clark, Overall (1of3), 1973-82 58. ata Relevant to Lewis and Clark, Overall (2of3) 1973- 59. Data Relevant to Lewis and Clark, Overall (3of3) 1973-82 60. Description of Historic Sites Not Marked, nd BOX 12 61. Downtown: Building Development 62. Downtown: Civic Center Re-Development, 1966 63. Downtown: Gateway Mall 64. Downtown: Malls 65. Downtown: St. Louis, 1961-73 66. Downtown: Spanish Pavilion 67. Fort Bellefontaine 68. Fur Trade 69. General Data, 1931-39 70. General Data, 1940-45 BOX 13 71. General Data, 1946-49 72. General Data, 1951-52, 1955, 1968, 1971 73. General Data, nd 74. Grant, Ulysses S. 75. Gun Shops, 1941-49 76. Historic Sites Inventory for the St. Louis Metropolitan Area, July 1980 77. Historic Buildings, except Florissant, nd 78. Historic Buildings, Dr. WG Swekowsky, 1963, 1969, 1976 BOX 14 79. Historic Building Preservation Activity 80. Historic Building Preservation Society 81. Historic Structures Preserved, Part II 82. Historic Structures Preserved, Part III 83. Historic Structures Preserved, IV BOX 15 84. Illinois Items 85. Illinois Items 86. Indian Mounds at Mastodon Park 87. Items of General Interest, 1978-79 88. Jefferson Barracks 89. Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, clearing of area BOX 16 90. Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, Data, 1970-78 91. Jefferson National Expansion Memorial,1979-83 92. Jefferson National Expansion Memorial,A-1 (1of3) 93. Jefferson National Expansion Memorial,(2of3) 94. Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, (3of3) BOX 17 95. Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, Data, Part II (1of2) 96. Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, (2of2) 97. Jefferson National Expansion Memorial 98. Jefferson National Expansion Memorial BOX 18 99. Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, Data, Part V 100. Markers Formerly in what is now Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, area 101. National Park Service 102. National Park Service, Report 103. Pamphlets 104. Postcards of Gateway Arch, nd BOX 19 105. Master Record-Junior Chamber of Commerce (A-E) 106. Master Record-Junior Chamber of Commerce (F-J) 107. Master Record-Junior Chamber of Commerce (K-N) 108. Master Record-Junior Chamber of Commerce (O-S) 109. Master Record-Junior Chamber of Commerce (T-Z) 110. Laclede's Landing BOX 20 111. Landmarks Association of St. Louis, 1966-79 112. Landmarks Letter, 1966-70, 1978-82 113. List of Historic Structures, 1940-74 (1of2) 114.