A Biographical Sketch of American Samoa’s Fortieth Governor (and Fifth Appointed Civil Governor): Richard Barrett Lowe (Term of Office: October 1, 1953-October 15, 1956)
Richard Barrett Lowe, fifth appointed civil governor of American Samoa, was born in Madison, South Dakota on July 8, 1902. He was the youngest of three children. (Lowe 1967: 487, 533)
Lowe graduated from Madison High School, attended the University of Wisconsin for one year, and graduated from Eastern State Teacher’s College in 1929. He subsequently obtained a master’s degree from the University of South Dakota, and was awarded an honorary Doctor of Education degree by Ottawa University (Kansas) in 1942. (Lowe 1967: 536)
During World War II, Lowe served in the US Navy as commanding officer of the V-12 units at the University of Nebraska and Creighton University, as a military government officer on Tinian and Guam in the Marianas, and on Okinawa. In February, 1946, he was elected Dean of the Nebraska State Teachers’ College at Peru. (Lowe 1967: 538)
In 1947, Lowe returned to active duty, to assist with the recruitment drive for the Naval Reserve. Originally based in Omaha, Nebraska, he was instrumental in convincing the Navy Recruiting Service to adopt an anti-dropout policy with the slogan “Stay in School.”
Lowe was asked to accept the position of Director of Education, first in American Samoa, and then in Guam in the early 1950s. He declined both positions, hoping for a territorial governorship if Dwight D. Eisenhower was elected to the Presidency in 1952. After Eisenhower was elected, Lowe made his wishes known through the office of Republican Senator Karl Mundt of South Dakota.
By a “midnight” appointment in late November, 1952, President Harry S. Truman appointed James Arthur Ewing of Ohio as Governor of American Samoa. When Eisenhower took office in January, 1953, he appointed Ford Elvidge of Seattle, Washington as Governor of Guam. Thus, it seemed that Lowe’s gubernatorial hopes were not to be realized, but Ewing resigned in March, 1953 and was succeeded by Lawrence M. Judd, a former Governor of the Territory of Hawaii in the 1930s. Judd “arrived in Samoa on April 15, stayed five weeks, and then, on the advice of his doctor, packed up his wife and gear and left for Hawaii on May 23, never to return.” (Lowe 1967: 3)
Once again, Lowe advanced his candidacy for the governorship of American Samoa and “began to line up the necessary political, naval and educational references and support to strengthen my candidacy.” He was very concerned about America’s prestige in the South Pacific, because “there had been four civilian governors and four acting governors since the Interior Department had taken over from the Navy Department in July, 1951.” In his autobiography, he wrote that “The rapid turnover in governors had brought the United States into derision in the South Pacific.”
On January 15, 1954, the first Japanese fishing boat delivered a load of tuna to the Van Camp cannery. (Lowe 1967: 11)
Richard Barrett Lowe
Barrett Lowe's wife was quoted saying, "Barrett really had three careers." Over the span of his life, he was governor of two territories, college president, public school administrator, naval officer, and author. Throughout his intriguing life, he always had a fondness for Madison and the university. (1981 Alumni News).
The Lowe family affiliation with Dakota State goes back to 1889, when Edna Beck Low, mother of Barrett, graduated from Madison State Normal School. Ms. Lowe taught music at DSU in the 1920's (DSU Scholarship book, 2001). Edna's husband was the first medical doctor in Lake County. Although he attended only one year at the college in Madison, he made a lasting impression on the campus. Richard Barrett Lowe was born in Madison, South Dakota in 1902 and graduated in 1929 from the Normal School.
During his senior year, he wrote the scenario and directed the motion picture, "Dacotah". "Dacotah" is believed to be the first full-length motion picture ever produced on a college campus.
The motion picture was produced by students and faculty from Eastern State Normal School in the spring of 1929 and chronicles the history of South Dakota from prehistoric times to the present. It was completed in six reels with no sound (Madison Daily Leader, DSC Centennial Special Section, Wed. May 6, 1981).
The movie was completed with the aid of a cameraman and director from the Sly Fox Film Corp in Minneapolis. The filming was to have been completed in three weeks, but took six instead. Lowe, in his book "20 million acres" writes:
"Of fascinating scenes that stand out in memory the breaking of the oxen was the most humorous, the work of the Flandreau Indians was the most interesting, the prairie fire scene was the most thrilling, the property girl strapping a sword to Beadle for use as a surveyor on the open prairie was the most ridiculous, the bucking horse with delicate and valuable surveying instruments dangling between fore and hind legs was the most profane, and the theft of the jerked beef by hungry students was by far the most tragic."
After graduation, Lowe went on to be an educator and was superintendent of several schools in several South Dakota districts. He also served as President of Sioux Falls College for a short time.
In. 1943, Lowe became commander in the Navy Reserve. There he originated the "Stay in School" program and published the Occupational Handbook.
While in the Navy, he became interested in island government. In 1953, President Eisenhower appointed him as governor of American Samoa. There, he was successful in bringing stability to the government in a short time. Upon leaving the island, a civilian was selected as his successor.
In 1956, he was able to repeat his success in American Samoa in Guam. He left Guam in 1956 with civilian governors in place.
He settled in Washington D.C. as began to restore old homes. Several of which were quite famous, including one which was rebuilt on the spot of George Washington's Town House that served as his surveying office.
Dakota State University • All rights Reserved
Completed by Spring 2004 Class of English 401
Last updated Spring 2004 |
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