The papers of Lowell Thomas document the professional and personal life of Lowell Thomas (1892-1981), who was perhaps most notably an American radio news broadcaster from 1930 to 1976, first on the NBC and then the CBS radio network. He was also an author of more than 50 books and countless newspaper and magazine articles, a noted speaker who for much of his life traveled widely on the national lecture circuit, a world traveler, filmmaker, entrepreneur and friend and associate of many of the most influential people of the 20th century. Included in the papers are approximately 36,000 photographs, hundreds of hours of audio, thousands of feet of motion picture film, numerous artifacts and over one million pages of manuscript materials. Materials in the papers range from 1789 to 1984, with the bulk of material ranging from 1900 to 1981.
The Lowell Thomas Papers were donated to Marist College by the Thomas family in 2006.
Lowell Jackson Thomas was born in Woodington, Ohio on 6 April 1892 to two school teachers, Harry G. Thomas and Harriet Wagner Thomas. The family did not remain in Darke County, Ohio for very long because Lowell's father wanted to become a doctor. Harry G. Thomas's pursuit of a medical degree led the family to Kirkman, Iowa where five-year-old Lowell was enrolled in school for the first time. Harry's studies soon led him to the University of Nebraska. Upon graduation, Harry G. Thomas followed his brother's suggestion to begin his medical practice in the twin mining boom towns of Cripple Creek and Victor, Colorado. It was here in the rugged American West that Lowell spent the better part of his childhood and young adult years.
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