Walter McGehee Lowrey papers

Collection

Identifier: SC-Mss. Coll. 77

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collection relates to the professional life of history professor Walter McGehee Lowrey. This includes research notes, writings and speeches, Centenary College of Louisiana material, and Louisiana United Methodist material.

Series 1: Research notes (1818-1989) contains seven indexes of notecards as well as additional folders with notes. Index Box 1 contains Centenary College of Louisiana and predecessor institutions’ board of trustees members (1825-1989). Index Box 2 contains Centenary College of Louisiana’s Fulbright, Rhodes, and Rotary student scholars (1949-1988), honorary degree recipients (1851-1985), board of trustees members (1825-1846), and donors/donations (1907-1968). Index Box 3 contains notes about Centenary College of Louisiana from New Orleans Christian Advocate newspapers (1851-1919), Centenary College commencement (1851-1911), Homer College and Mt. Lebanon College (1855-1883). Index Box 4 contains notes about articles appearing in the New Orleans Christian Advocate grouped as follows: people and places (1874, 1893, 1910, and 1913), German Missions (1851-1890), Mexican Missions (1872-1874), Northern Methodism/Negro Methodism/Race Relations (1854-1918), Louisiana places (1851-1944), New Orleans (1851-1918), Shreveport (1851-1931). A separate index contains Louisiana Methodist history and general topics on Louisiana Methodism (1851-1935) including: General Conference, Publishing House, Women’s Missionary Society, New Orleans Christian Advocate history, Board of Education, Orphanage, Richmond Nolley, Tobias Gibson, Missionaries, and Bishop Keener. Also contains General Topic index (1851-1928) which includes the following subjects: yellow fever, Moody and Sankey, description and travel, and Frances Willard. Index Box 5 contains a New Orleans Christian Advocate obituary index (1874, 1893, 1910, and 1913), and a New Orleans Christian Advocate partial index of obituaries and marriage notices for Caddo and Bossier parishes (1851-1874). Index Box 6 contains notes about Mansfield Female College from New Orleans Christian Advocate newspapers (1854-1936). Index Box 7 contains College of Louisiana professors, teachers, and tutors (1825-1845). For material dated after 1980, it appears librarians continued to update these indexes. Additional folders include information on Centenary College of Louisiana (general topics, commencement, and history), 18th and 19th century music, Mansfield Female College, and the Methodist Church in the 1800s. These folders include notes, minutes, speeches, articles from the New Orleans Christian Advocate, and correspondence.

Series 2: Writings and Speeches (1966-1979) contains writings and speeches covering the topics of Centenary College of Louisiana, the treatment of drug addiction at the Shreveport Clinic led by Dr. Willis Butler, historical records and preservation, “Upton Sinclair and the Epic Plan”, Man and Medicine, and Bicentennial music.

Series 3: Centenary College of Louisiana (1966-1978) contains material including reports from a self-study committee (1973-1975), printed items from events that Lowrey spoke at, postcards, and correspondence.

Series 4: Louisiana United Methodism (1965-1980) contains information on the Louisiana Commission on Archives and History including correspondence and research requests fielded by Lowrey using material in the conference archives.

Dates

1818 - 1989

Creator

Lowrey, Walter McGehee, 1920-1980 (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Physical rights are retained by the Centenary College of Louisiana Archives and Special Collections. Copyright is retained in accordance with U.S. copyright laws.

Biographical / Historical

Born July 19, 1920, in Mansfield, Louisiana, Walter McGehee Lowrey was a professor of history and a scholar. He received his B.A. in history from Louisiana State University in 1942. After serving in the European Theater of World War II, Lowrey was awarded his M.A. from LSU in 1947, and his Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University in 1956.

From 1948 to 1963, Lowrey worked at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, Louisiana. He was a professor of history and the Dean of Arts and Sciences at Nicholls. From 1963 to 1980, Lowrey worked at Centenary College of Louisiana. At Centenary, he was a professor of history and served as the Chairman of the Department of History and Government. He received the “Centenary College Alumni Award as the Outstanding Teacher of 1966.”

Lowrey was an active member in many organizations and societies, such as Omicron Delta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi, the Southern Historical Association, the Louisiana Historical Association (founding member, president 1963-1964, and board of directors), the North Louisiana Historical Association (vice-president and board of directors), the Commission on Archives and History of the United Methodist Church (treasurer), the Historical Study Committee of Shreveport, the Louisiana Committee for the Humanities, and the Historical Preservation of Shreveport Committee.

Lowrey’s publications include articles and reviews in Louisiana Historical Quarterly, Louisiana History, North Louisiana Historical Journal, and other periodicals. His writings also include articles in Encyclopedia Britannica, a chapter on the Red River in Rivers and Bayous of Louisiana, and Centenary College of Louisiana: Sesquicentennial, 1825-1975.

Extent

1.75 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Arrangement

Arranged in four series: 1. Research Notes (1818-1989), 2. Writings and Speeches (1966-1979), 3. Centenary College of Louisiana (1966-1978), 4. Louisiana United Methodism (1965-1980).