Louis C. Hunter (1898 – 1984) was a professor of economic history at American University. His most famous work, Steamboats on the Western Rivers, an Economic and Technological History, was published in 1949.[1]

Hunter grew up in a steamboat culture as he spent his first eighteen years living on the banks of the Ohio River, at Wellsburg, West Virginia, and the Mississippi River, at Moline, Illinois.[2] After studying engineering and economic history at Harvard University, he received a doctorate in 1928.[2] For the next twenty years, Hunter was engaged in research for Steamboats on the Western Rivers.[2] In 1952, his scholarship was acknowledged when he was awarded the Dunning Prize by the American Historical Association.[2]

In 1937, Hunter joined the faculty of American University where he was a professor of history until his retirement in 1966.[2][3] In 1979, the first volume of his trilogy, A History of Industrial Power in the United States, 1780-1930, was published.[2] In 1983, Dr. Hunter was awarded the Leonardo da Vinci Medal by the Society of History of Technology.[2]

Hunter was married and the father of two daughters.[2] Louis C. Hunter died on March 22, 1984.[2]

References

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  1. ^ Hunter, Louis C. (1949). Steamboats on the western rivers, an economic and technological history. Cambridge: Harvard University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i White, John H. (1993). "Introduction to the Dover edition", Steamboats on the western rivers, an economic and technological history. Mineola, New York: Dover Publications. A biography of Louis C. Hunter by John H. White, Senior Historian Emeritus of the Smithsonian Institution.
  3. ^ Waggoner, Walter (24 March 1984). "LOUIS C. HUNTER IS DEAD; A SPECIALIST ON U.S. INDUSTRY". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 July 2012.

Bibliography

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  • Hunter, Louis C. (1949). Steamboats on the western rivers, an economic and technological history. Cambridge: Harvard University Press
  • Hunter, Louis C. (1979). A history of industrial power in the United States, 1780-1930: water power. Charlottesville, Va.: University Press of Virginia
  • Hunter, Louis C. (1985). A history of industrial power in the United States, 1780-1930: steam power. Charlottesville, Va.: University Press of Virginia
  • Hunter, Louis C. and Lynwood Bryant (1991). A history of industrial power in the United States, 1780-1930: the transmission of power. Boston: MIT Press