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The Museum’s newest collection of Hudson River Maritime memorabilia
comes to us as a result of the lifelong efforts of Donald Ringwald (1917-1987).
Ringwald was the premier Hudson River steamboat expert of the second half
of the 20th century. He authored three books and numerous articles on
Hudson River steamboats, and was also a frequent lecturer on the subject.
Kingston Activities His
First Inspiration
A native of Kingston, New York, Donald Ringwald a developed a fascination
for steamboats of all varieties; he observed them come and go from Rondout
Creek and Kingston Point on the Hudson, not far I from his home. While
in high school, Ringwald began keeping detailed logs of his boat sightings
and began also to document the boats with series of photographs. He kept
scrapbooks of maritime articles from newspapers and magazines. In 1937,
Ringwald transitioned from simply collecting information about boats to
also participating in the industry. He joined the Hudson River Day Line,
where, in the purser’s department, he served principally on the Hendrick
Hudson and the Alexander Hamilton. In serving as a Day Line
employee, Ringwald joined, fellow steamboat enthusiast, and current HRMM
Trustee, Roger Mabie.
World War II and Beyond
In 1941 Ringwald joined the U.S. Army. His first military duty was a short
stint as dockhand on the Governors Island ferries at New York! Then followed
over four years of service in the Pacific theater during World War II.
He emerged in 1946 as a captain. After the war, Ringwald joined the civilian
work force with the Veteran’s Administration and continued his steamboat
trips, photographs, and logs while starting a collection of steamboat
artifacts. He followed this pattern for the rest of his life. Not surprisingly,
he was an active member of the Steamboat Historical Society of America.
He rose to president of that organization and he also edited the Society’s
publication, Steamboat Bill of Facts.
The Hudson River Maritime Museum is very proud to have been chosen as
the home of the Donald C. Ringwald Collection. The collection consists
of hundreds of steamboat photos and maritime and history books, as well
as paper ephemera, steamboat lithographs and paintings, chairs from some
of the boats, small pieces of wood from the boats, also uniforms, steam
gauges and other hardware, and countess files of correspondence and research.
The Ringwald Collection represents a tremendous resource for research
into Hudson River steamboats as well as other boats of the Northeast and
Mid-Atlantic regions, and a great resource for Museum exhibits. Allynne
Lange, Curator
Ringwald Steamboat Books
Museum Acquires Donald
C. Ringwald Collection
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