Walter M. Lowrey
| Walter M. Lowrey
(Louisiana historian at Centenary College in Shreveport) | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 19, 1921 Mansfield, DeSoto Parish Louisiana, USA |
| Died | May 29, 1980 (aged 58) Resting place: |
Walter M. Lowrey (July 19, 1921 – May 29, 1980) was a historian affiliated with Centenary College, a United Methodist-affiliated institution in Shreveport, Louisiana, who was also a founding member of the Louisiana Historical Association.
Lowrey was born to John William Lowrey, Sr., and Loretta Lowrey (c. 1881-1970) in Mansfield in DeSoto Parish, south of Shreveport. He had three brothers and two sisters. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. During World War II, he served in the United States Army in the European theater of operations. He subsequently obtained a Master of Arts from LSU and a Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.[1]
He was professor of history and the dean of arts and sciences at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux in Lafourche Parish in south Louisiana. In 1963, he joined the Centenary faculty and was subsequently named Centenary's "Outstanding Professor of 1966."[1]
In 1948, Lowrey wrote the article "The Political Career of James Madison Wells," a former Louisiana governor, for the then entitled Louisiana Historical Quarterly.[2] He penned the article on the Red River in the publication The Rivers and Bayous of Louisiana.[3] Through his role as chairman of the United Methodist editorial committee in the late 1970s, Lowrey spearheaded the project A History of Louisiana Methodism.[4] The project includes the history of the church's extensive network of circuit rider preachers.[5]
Lowrey's affiliations included Phi Kappa Phi, the scholastic honor society; Omicron Delta Kappa, the leadership fraternity; the Southern Historical Association, and the North Louisiana Historical Association, of which he vice president. He was also a member of the Commission on Archives and History of the United Methodist Church, the Historical Study Committee of Shreveport, and the Louisiana Committee for the Humanities.[1] From 1963 to 1964, he was president of the Louisiana Historical Association, an organization now based in Lafayette which publishes A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography, both on-line and in hard volume.[6]
Lowrey died suddenly at the age of fifty-eight. He is interred at Saint Louis Cemetery in Lafourche Parish in south Louisiana.[7] Colleague John David Winters (1916-1997)of Louisiana Tech University, wrote a tribute to Lowrey in the Journal of the North Louisiana Historical Association, since renamed North Louisiana History, in which he referred to Lowrey as "a skilled researcher, polished writer, and a master teacher."[1]
Lowrey's principal colleague in the Centenary history department was W. Darrell Overdyke, a specialist in the American South.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 John David Winters, "In Memoriam: Walter M. Lowrey, 1921–1980, North Louisiana History," formerly known as The Journal of the North Louisiana Historical Association, Vol. 11, No. 3 (Summer 1980).
- ↑ Walter Lowrey, "The Political Career of James Madison Wells," Louisiana Historical Quarterly, 31 (October 1948).
- ↑ Lauren C. Post. A review of The Rivers and Bayous of Louisiana 173–175; material no longer accessible. Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association.
- ↑ A History of Louisiana Methodism. Centenary.edu. Retrieved on March 23, 2011; material no longer accessible.
- ↑ Methodist Circuit Riders. Centenary.edu. Retrieved on March 23, 2011; material no longer accessible.
- ↑ Presidents of the Louisiana Historical Association Since Reorganization in 1958. Lahistory.org. Retrieved on March 11, 2011; no longer on-line.
- ↑ Walter M. Lowrey. Findagrave.com. Retrieved on June 28, 2017.
