Ruth Agnes McCall Robertson Marietta (May 24, 1905 – February 17, 1998) was an American

photojournalist Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (suc ...

who accomplished many "firsts" for women photographers and is also known mostly for photographing

Angel Falls Angel Falls (; Pemon: ''Kerepakupai Merú'' or ''Parakupá Vená'') is a waterfall in Venezuela. It is the world's tallest uninterrupted waterfall, with a height of , and a plunge of . The waterfall drops over the edge of the Auyán-tepui m ...

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

and surveying them to establish them as tallest waterfalls in the world; it was published in ''

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

'' magazine, November 1949. She was born in

Taylorville, Illinois Taylorville is a city in and the county seat of Christian County, Illinois, United States. The population was 10,506 at the 2020 census, making it the county's largest city. History Taylorville was founded on May 24, 1839, and was named after J ...

Biography

Robertson was a ground-breaking photographer who in 1939 was hired by ''The Peoria Evening Star'' newspaper as its first “girl photographer.” Three years later Robertson moved to Chicago and began working for '' Acme News Pictures'', which later became

United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ce ...

. While working for Acme, Robertson co-founded an independent news service called Press Syndicate. Through this connection Robertson received photographic assignments which made her the first female photographer allowed onto the

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

infield at

Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a ballpark on the North Side, Chicago, North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charl ...

in 1943, and the "only female photographer at the 1944 Democratic and Republican conventions." Robertson had been a journalist during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and after she returned to her routine job at the ''

New York Herald Tribune The ''New York Herald Tribune'' was a newspaper published between 1924 and 1966. It was created in 1924 when Ogden Mills Reid of the '' New York Tribune'' acquired the '' New York Herald''. It was regarded as a "writer's newspaper" and compet ...

'', felt that her "life lost its thrill." In 1949, Robertson eagerly accepted an assignment to Venezuela. She became interested in

and initially took aerial photographs. On April 23, 1949, she set out on an expedition to the base with the Latvian explorer

Aleksandrs Laime Aleksandrs Laime (, ) was a famous Latvian-born explorer. He is most noted for being the first recorded human to reach Angel Falls, located in Venezuela, by foot. He also established, together with Charles Baughan, the tourist camp of Canaima, ...

to reach the falls. They traveled on the

Churún River The Churún River () is a river in Venezuela, part of the Orinoco River basin. It is located in Canaima National Park and a tributary comes from the Angel Falls Angel Falls (; Pemon: ''Kerepakupai Merú'' or ''Parakupá Vená'') is a waterf ...

in dugout

canoe A canoe is a lightweight, narrow watercraft, water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using paddles. In British English, the term ' ...

s and endured downpours of rain. On May 12, they finally reached the falls. The expedition was the first documented expedition, which included ten Kamarakoto natives (including another woman named Juanita), to reach the foot of the falls, and was also the first to measure them. Robertson stayed in

for the next 12 years, and became the editor of the ''Daily Journal'' (formerly known as ''Caracas Journal''), and subsequently moved to

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, before returning to the U.S. in the mid-1960s, and re-locating to

Rosenberg, Texas Rosenberg is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, within the Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan area and Fort Bend County. Rosenberg was named for Henry Von Rosenberg, who immigrated to Texas from Switzerland in 1843. Von ...

, where she died in 1998. The Ruth Robertson Archives have been preserved at the

Harry Ransom Center The Harry Ransom Center, known as the Humanities Research Center until 1983, is an archive, library, and museum at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in the collection of literary and cultural artifacts from the Americas and Europe ...

of the

University of Texas in Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 202 ...

. Author

Kathryn Casey Kathryn Casey is an American writer of mystery novels and non-fiction books. She is best known for writing ''She Wanted It All'', which recounts the case of Celeste Beard, who married an Austin multimillionaire only to convince her lesbian lover ...

's book, ''Angel Falls'', released in September 2023, was inspired by Robertson's life.

Associations

Society of Woman Geographers The Society of Woman Geographers was established in 1925 at a time when women were excluded from membership in most professional organizations, such as the Explorers Club, who would not admit women until 1981. It is based in Washington, D.C., and ...

, member * Pan American Round Table of Houston, member *Foreign Correspondents' Club, Mexico City, member

Bibliography

Books and articles by Robertson or with photographs by Robertson: *"Skyway to Asia", photos and captions by Ruth Robertson,

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

, May 6, 1945, pC10;

Des Moines Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...

Sunday Register, June 17, 1945 *"

ALSIB ALSIB (or the Northern Trace) was the Soviet Union portion of the Alaska-Siberian air road receiving Lend-Lease aircraft from the Northwest Staging Route. Aircraft manufactured in the United States were flown over this route for World War II combat ...

Story Compiled by Newswoman", ''

Flying Magazine ''Flying'', sometimes styled ''FLYING'', is an aviation magazine published since 1927 and called ''Popular Aviation'' prior to 1942, as well as ''Aeronautics'' for a brief period. It is read by pilots, aircraft owners, aviation enthusiasts and ...

'', October 194
Flying Magazine
*"Canada, The Link--USA to USSR," by Vilhjalmur Stefansson, ''

The Rotarian Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. The self-declared mission of Rotary, as stated on its website, is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and pe ...

'', November 194
The Rotarian
*"Jungle Journey to the World's Highest Waterfall," by Ruth Robertson, ''

'', November 1949 *"Comparison for a Cataract", ''

Life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...

'' magazine, May 2, 195
LIFE
*''Churun Meru--The Tallest Angel: Of Jungles and Other Journeys'' by Ruth Robertson, Whitmore Publishing, 1975. *"Over the Edge" by Dan Morrison with photos by Ruth Robertson, ''TDC Magazine'', May 1992 Articles about Robertson: *"Girl Photog Runs Afoul Army in Alaska", ''Editor and Publisher'', 1945 *"Peoria Girl Goes Overseas," ''Peoria Journal-Transcript'', January 15, 1945 *"Topics of the Times," ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' May 18, 1949 *"Angel on Devil's Mountain," ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...

'', June 6, 1949 *"Treasure Hunt in a Lost World," by Richard F. Dempewolff, ''

Popular Mechanics ''Popular Mechanics'' (often abbreviated as ''PM'' or ''PopMech'') is a magazine of popular science and technology, featuring automotive, home, outdoor, electronics, science, do it yourself, and technology topics. Military topics, aviation an ...

'', October 195
Popular Mechanics
*"A Photographic Gift of a Venezuelan Trek," ''

'', September 1990

References

External links

Personal websiteRuth Robertson Papers and Photographic Collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robertson, Ruth American photojournalists People from Taylorville, Illinois 1905 births 1998 deaths Members of the Society of Woman Geographers American newspaper editors American newspaper journalists Photographers from Illinois People from Peoria, Illinois 20th-century American women photographers 20th-century American photographers American women photojournalists