Donor of rare books to give lecture at Southeast

The donor of a collection of rare books about the history of rivers and steamboats in the United States will deliver a guest lecture Wednesday at Southeast Missouri State University.

The hourlong lecture, set to begin at noon, will take place at the opening celebration of the donation in Sadie's Place in Kent Library.

Dan Back of Patriot, Indiana, is the past president of the Cape River Heritage Museum and recently donated the collection of more than 700 volumes of books and 135 periodicals to Kent Library, according to a Southeast news release.

The materials will enhance the library's collection of books about the beginning of transportation by steamboats on inland rivers, construction details of steamboats and the lives of many steamboat captains and passengers, Roxanne Dunn, special collections and archives librarian at Kent Library, said in the release.

Back is a retired section manager for Procter & Gamble. He lived in Cincinnati for 25 years before moving to Cape Girardeau in 1989, where he lived for seven years. He now resides in Patriot at mile marker 519.4 along the Ohio River.

He has been giving presentations on the history of the inland rivers and steamboats for 15 years, having served as a guest enrichment lecturer aboard the Delta Queen and the American Queen boats and also having given presentations aboard the Mississippi Queen, River Explorer and the Barbara-H, the release said.

Back also has delivered presentations on Samuel Clemens' steamboat career for the National Endowment for the Arts' Big Read project.

Back is well-traveled along riverways, exploring more than 12,000 miles on the inland rivers aboard the River Explorer and all six of the authentic steamboats. He also has traveled from Budapest to Amsterdam on the Danube, Main and Rhine rivers.

Over the years, he has been a member of the Sons and Daughters of Pioneer Rivermen, is a former board member of the Middle Ohio River Chapter S&D and is a charter member of the Mississippi River Chapter S&D.

He also has been active in the Midwest River Buffs in Keokuk, Iowa, and the Paddlewheel Steamboatin' Society. He was a crewmember of the 1923 National Historic Landmark paddle towboat Barbara-H and the Steamboat Natchez during Tall Stacks 2006.

He has been involved with the Switzerland County, Indiana, Historical Society responsible for developing the Life on the Ohio river history museum.

He created the Historic Patriot Museum in Patriot and is a board member of the Historic Sternwheeler Preservation Society, which operates the paddle towboat Barbara-H.

Back assisted the Indiana Historical Society in developing a traveling exhibit to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the first steamboat on the inland rivers.

Pertinent address:

One University Plaza, Cape Girardeau, Mo.