Walter M. Lowrey
Encyclopedia
Walter M. Lowrey was an historian affiliated with Centenary College
Centenary College of Louisiana
Centenary College of Louisiana is a primarily undergraduate, liberal arts and sciences college in Shreveport, Louisiana. The college is one of the founding members of the Associated Colleges of the South, a pedagogical organization consisting of sixteen Southern liberal arts colleges...

, a Methodist-institution in Shreveport
Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....

, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

, who was also a founding member of the Louisiana Historical Association
Louisiana Historical Association
The Louisiana Historical Association is an organization of professional historians and interested laypersons dedicated to the preservation, publication, and dissemination of the history of the U.S. state of Louisiana, with particular emphasis at the inception on territorial, statehood, and the...

.

Lowrey was born to John William Lowrey, Sr., and Loretta Lowrey (ca. 1881-1970) in Mansfield
Mansfield, Louisiana
Mansfield is a city in and the parish seat of DeSoto Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 5,001 at the 2010 census. Mansfield is part of the Shreveport–Bossier City Metropolitan Statistical Area.-History:...

, the seat of DeSoto Parish south of Shreveport. He had two brothers and two sisters. He received his Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...

 degree from Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, most often referred to as Louisiana State University, or LSU, is a public coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The University was founded in 1853 in what is now known as Pineville, Louisiana, under the name...

 in Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge is the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is located in East Baton Rouge Parish and is the second-largest city in the state.Baton Rouge is a major industrial, petrochemical, medical, and research center of the American South...

. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, he served in the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

 in the European theater of operations
European Theater of Operations
The European Theater of Operations, United States Army was a United States Army formation which directed U.S. Army operations in parts of Europe from 1942 to 1945. It referred to Army Ground Forces, United States Army Air Forces, and Army Service Forces operations north of Italy and the...

. He subsequently obtained a Master of Arts
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...

 from LSU and a Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...

 from Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University is a private research university located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, the university is named for shipping and rail magnate "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided Vanderbilt its initial $1 million endowment despite having never been to the...

 in Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...

, Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

.
He was professor of history and the dean of arts and sciences at Nicholls State University
Nicholls State University
Nicholls State University, founded in 1948, is a public university located in Thibodaux, Louisiana, USA. Nicholls is part of the University of Louisiana System of universities. Originally called Francis T. Nicholls Junior College, the institution split from the Louisiana State University System in...

 in Thibodaux
Thibodaux, Louisiana
Thibodaux is a small city in and the parish seat of Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, United States, along the banks of Bayou Lafourche in the northwestern part of the parish. The population was 14,431 at the 2000 census. Thibodaux is a principal city of the Houma–Bayou Cane–Thibodaux...

 in Lafourche Parish
Lafourche Parish, Louisiana
Lafourche Parish is a parish located in the south of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It was originally the northern part of Lafourche Interior Parish, which consisted of the present parishes of Lafourche and Terrebonne. The parish seat is Thibodaux...

 in south Louisiana. In 1963, he joined the Centenary faculty; he was subsequently named Centenary's "Outstanding Professor of 1966."

In 1948, Lowrey wrote the article "The Political Career of James Madison Wells," a former Louisiana governor
James Madison Wells
James Madison Wells was elected the 20th Governor of Louisiana during Reconstruction.-Early life:Born near Alexandria, Louisiana, on January 8, 1808, Wells' father was Samuel Levi Wells, II, a member of the constitutional convention in 1811. His mother was the former Dorcas Huie. A brother, Thomas...

 in the then entitled Louisiana Historical Quarterly. He penned the article on the Red River in the publication The Rivers and Bayous of Louisiana. Through his role as chairman of the United Methodist editorial committee in the late 1970s, Lowrey spearheaded the project A History of Louisiana Methodism. The project includes the history of the church's extensive network of circuit rider
Circuit rider (Religious)
Circuit rider is a popular term referring to clergy in the earliest years of the United States who were assigned to travel around specific geographic territories to minister to settlers and organize congregations...

s.

Lowrey's affiliations included Phi Kappa Phi
Phi Kappa Phi
The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi is an honor society established 1897 to recognize and encourage superior scholarship without restriction as to area of study and to promote the "unity and democracy of education"...

, the scholastic honor society; Omicron Delta Kappa
Omicron Delta Kappa
Omicron Delta Kappa, or ΟΔΚ, also known as The Circle, or more commonly ODK, is a national leadership honor society. It was founded December 3, 1914, at Washington & Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, by 15 student and faculty leaders. Chapters, known as Circles, are located on over 300...

, the leadership fraternity
Fraternity
A fraternity is a brotherhood, though the term usually connotes a distinct or formal organization. An organization referred to as a fraternity may be a:*Secret society*Chivalric order*Benefit society*Friendly society*Social club*Trade union...

; the Southern Historical Association
Southern Historical Association
The Southern Historical Association is an organization of historians focusing on the history of the Southern United States . It was organized on November 2, 1934...

, 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. From 1963–1964, he was president of the Louisiana Historical Association
Louisiana Historical Association
The Louisiana Historical Association is an organization of professional historians and interested laypersons dedicated to the preservation, publication, and dissemination of the history of the U.S. state of Louisiana, with particular emphasis at the inception on territorial, statehood, and the...

, an organization now based in Lafayette
Lafayette, Louisiana
Lafayette is a city in and the parish seat of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, United States, on the Vermilion River. The population was 120,623 at the 2010 census...

 which publishes A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography, both on-line and in hard volume.

Lowrey died suddenly at the age of fifty-eight. Colleague John D. Winters
John D. Winters
John David Winters was a historian at Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, Louisiana, best known for his definitive and award-winning study, The Civil War in Louisiana, still in print, published in 1963 and released in paperback in 1991.-Background:Winters was born to John David Winters, Sr...

 of Louisiana Tech University
Louisiana Tech University
Louisiana Tech University, often referred to as Louisiana Tech, LA Tech, or Tech, is a coeducational public research university located in Ruston, Louisiana. Louisiana Tech is designated as a Tier 1 school in the national universities category by the 2012 U.S. News & World Report college rankings...

, wrote a tribute to Lowrey in the Journal of the North Louisiana Historical Association, since renamed North Louisiana History
North Louisiana History
North Louisiana History is an academic journal published twice annually in Shreveport, Louisiana by the North Louisiana Historical Association .-History:...

,
in which he referred to Lowrey as "a skilled researcher, polished writer, and a master teacher."

Lowrey's principal colleague in the Centenary history department was W. Darrell Overdyke
W. Darrell Overdyke
William Darrell Overdyke was an American historian known particularly for his work on 18th- and 19th-century plantation homes in his adopted state of Louisiana as well as the anti-immigration Know Nothing political party in the American South.-Background:Overdyke was born in Cherokee near...

, a specialist in the American South.
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