Arthur Rickerby began recording history with his camera during the Second World War. A Naval officer, he was assigned to Navy's prestigious photographic unit led by then-Captain Edward Steichen, the guru of American photojournalists. Stationed in the Pacific, Rickerby covered the invasions of Okinawa and Iwo Jima, and was on board the USS Missouri for the signing of the peace treaty in Tokyo Bay.

   Following the war he worked for Acme Newspictures (which became United Press International) and then LIFE Magazine. Acme sent him back to Japan and China to document their recovery from the war, and followed up with assignments to cover an array of history making events (national political conventions, the formation of the UN) as well as human interest essays that spoke of the era.

   After he joined the LIFE staff in 1960, Rickerby covered hard news such as the two trials which landed James Hoffa in prison, the capture of the Santa Maria by pirates, General DeGaulle's funeral tribute to Dwight Eisenhower, the Boston Strangler, the sinking of the Andrea Doria, the East coast blackout etc.

   In his thirty years as a photojournalist, Arthur Rickerby recorded on film every United States President of that period, world leaders such as Khrushchev and Churchill, many stars of the entertainment world, and trends that spanned the distance from hula hoops to physical fitness. A hundred or so samples from the Rickerby Collection may be found on the pages that follow.