100 years ago today, readers of the The Meriden Daily Journal newspaper in Meriden, Connecticut, might have been surprised to see that a syndicated business column called “Making Money” profiled a successful Jefferson City, Missouri businesswoman, photographer Ruth Rust. The column is too long to include all of it here, but just the headline and the last paragraph:
Earlier in 1924, the Kansas City Star newspaper in MIssouri had included a very nice writeup of Ruth Rust as well, talking about her studio and her photography business — and they even included a photo of the photographer herself:
Ruth Rust was from Buffalo, Missouri; in 1904, at the age of 17, her health failing, her parents send her to live with her older sister, Jennie Rust Dugat, in Texas. Jennie Rust had, even before she was married, owned and operated the Rust Studio in Beesville, Texas, and she taught her younger sister, Ruth, all about being a photographer.
A few years later, Ruth Rust returns to Buffalo Missouri. Over the next 10+ years, Ruth works as a photographer here and there in various mid-western states. For example, here’s an advertisement for when she was running a studio in Chickasha, Okhlahoma:
In the late 1910s, she’s living and working in Montezuma, Iowa:
In 1921, though, she settles down, buying a studio in Jefferson City, Missouri, and running that for the next 25 years.
In the 1924 newspaper profiles about Ruth Rust the emphasis is on her message of catering to womens’ photographic needs. However, throughout her career she will also emphasize her skill at taking photos of men and children as well.
Also, Ruth Rust also becomes the official photographer of the Missouri State Legislature (note that Jefferson City is the capitol of Missouri and thus is where the Missouri state government is based). Ruth Rust was the first woman to be chosen as the “official government photographer” in any state in the United States; it’s a post she holds for many years.
But that role was just an extra role, since at the same time she continues to run the Rust Studio, taking a variety of photos. Below are a sample of the kinds of photos that appeared in the newspaper. First, I’ve included two sets of photos that appeared on a page with an article on September 1, 1935; the topic was a tea held to honor the five women chosen as delegates to the up-coming American Legion convention in Columbia, MO:
The Sunday News and Tribune, September 1, 1935
The Sunday News and Tribune, September 1, 1935
Next, in the following clipping, we see that Ruth Rust also took photos suitable for use in company advertisements:
The Sunday News and Tribune, June 9, 1935
To read more about Ruth Rust’s life story, check out this short article about her written by Michelle Brooks, a former journalist who has written several books about the history of Jefferson City, MO.
In any case, let’s celebrate the fact that in 1924 a profile of a successful female photographer in Missouri appeared in newspapers all over the country, including one in Connecticut, 100 years ago today.
