File:13670 Grand Canyon Historical Boat Collection Georgie's Raft (7420739226).jpg

Catalog # GRCA 13670 . Object: RAFT . Description: . Inflatable 10-man neoprene raft painted silver. Reads "Woman of the River" and "Georgie" in red lettering along each side of the boat. The body of the boat is made up of an irregular oval shaped tube with three tubes running perpendicular across the oval. This was one of the boats used by Georgie White to run the Colorado River in the 1950’s with her commercial river rafting . company. When the boat was originally donated by Georgie White in 1960, for display, the park did not want to display the boat with the lettering on it for fear that it would look like they were endorsing Georgie’s company. According to correspondence in the accession folder, Georgie offered to bring a can of neoprene paint to cover the lettering. Image # 4682 shows the boat on display in 1964, without the lettering, so at some point the lettering was covered, possibly by Georgie. In June 1979, NPS employees Starr Sweeney and Pat Zuccaro repainted the "Woman of the River" and "Georgie" lettering back on the boat in bright red (see accession folder for more info). . . -The boat was on display in the Visitor Center patio from the time it was received in 1960, except when it was loaned to the Autry Museum, in CA, April- October 1997, until December 2003.. -The boat was moved December 2003, with assistance from WACC conservator Brynn Bender, to the Resources Management warehouse for conservation, as part of the ’Save Our Boats’ historic boat conservation project. The air pump donated along with the boat was cataloged as GRCA #16528. . -November 30, 1992- the valve on the main tube was cleaned, and a hole patched on the bottom of the front thwart. The original perimeter rope was replaced with 3/8" triple twist nylon (same type). . . . .