Historical Note

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.

Following graduation from Victor High School in 1909, Thomas began an ambitious course of study at the University of Northern Indiana, better known as Valparaiso University. In two years he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and Master's degree. Returning to his parents' home in Colorado, Thomas worked for a time at one of the local mines. When offered a job as a reporter at the Victor "Daily Record" and then at the Victor "Daily News" Thomas accepted. He was 20 years old and not nearly done with his schooling.

Fall of 1912 brought the beginning of another year of study, this time for a Master's degree at the University of Denver. It was here that Thomas met a fellow student, Frances Ryan, a local woman who would later become his wife of 58 years. Still interested in journalism, Thomas worked for a local newspaper during his enrollment at the University.

Successfully completing his course of study in Denver, Thomas moved on to the Chicago-Kent College of Law in the fall of 1913. Thomas, who was taught elocution from an early age by his father, accepted an offer by the school to teach oratory while he pursued his law degree. In addition, he found work once again as a reporter at the Chicago "Evening Journal." Thomas gained a bit of fame as well as the good will of wealthy Chicago businessmen and industrialists by exposing a swindler, Carlton Hudson (also known as C. H. Betts) who was attempting to blackmail them. He also used his position as a reporter to pursue what was to become a lifelong passion - travel. Railroad executives agreed to underwrite his travel to the Pacific Northwest in exchange for articles that highlighted the merits of traveling by rail. It was during this trip in 1914 that Thomas visited Alaska for the first time.

Not yet finished with his legal studies, Thomas applied for and received the Charlotte Elizabeth Procter Fellowship award from Princeton University. Arriving at Princeton in 1915, Thomas was once again offered and accepted a position as a professor of speech. He also taught classes in public speaking at Brooklyn Law School.

Thomas returned to Alaska in the summers of 1915 and 1916. On these trips he went equipped with motion picture and still cameras. He planned to film and photograph the virgin Alaskan Territory and share his experiences with the people back east. Thomas printed booklets, posters and fliers to advertise his lecture series on Alaska. His Alaska travelogue was a multimedia presentation that incorporated film, magic lantern slides and narration to entertain and educate the public. The multimedia travelogue format was popularized by lecturers, such as Burton Holmes and Frank R. Roberson, who preceded Thomas. Although new to the field, Thomas's travelogue was modestly successful on the East coast. Early in 1917 Thomas was invited to give a lecture to Congressmen and other notable people in Washington, D.C. Franklin K. Lane, the Secretary of the Interior, was so impressed with Thomas's presentation that he asked Thomas to head the "See America First" campaign intended to extol the virtues of domestic travel during World War I. It was during these early travelogue days that Thomas stopped using his middle name professionally. For the rest of his working days he would be known simply as "Lowell Thomas," but his wife, close friends and relatives called him "Tommy."

The United States declaration of war on Germany in April 1917 canceled the "See America First" campaign before Thomas had a chance to begin working on it. Instead, Lane told Thomas he would arrange credentials for him to travel to the war fronts in Europe so that Thomas could gather information and return home to create his multimedia presentations to rally the American people to the war effort. Thomas was excited by the offer, even though Lane could offer no government funding. Thomas turned to the Chicago businessmen and industrialists who benefited when he exposed Carlton Hudson. They remained sufficiently grateful to give Thomas all the money he needed for travel, film and other expenses. Once he gained financing for his undertaking, Thomas signed agreements with "Leslie's Weekly" and newspapers around the country to be their official war correspondent.

On 4 August 1917, Lowell Thomas wed Frances Ryan. By the end of the month they were on a steamer headed for France. With them was Harry Chase, a technical wizard, photographer and motion picture cameraman who formerly worked for the lecturer Frank R. Roberson. When Roberson died in 1916, Thomas purchased thousands of glass plate negatives, lantern slides and other items from his widow. Chase, who along with other Roberson coworkers was unable to successfully continue the Roberson lectures, accepted Thomas's offer of employment.

Thomas did not feel the European war fronts were offering particularly compelling stories to bring back home. When given the opportunity in January 1918 to cover the British war effort in Arabia, Thomas and Chase packed their equipment and left Italy. His wife Frances joined the American Red Cross and went to Genoa, Italy.

It was in Egypt, Palestine and Arabia that Thomas and Chase took their most spectacular motion pictures and photographs. Thomas flew in an airplane for the first time in Egypt, an exhilarating experience that contributed to a lifelong love of flying. He and Chase mounted a motion picture camera in the open rear cockpit of a biplane to film the Great Pyramids of Giza from on high. When General Edmund Allenby and the Egyptian Expeditionary Forces drove the Turks from Jerusalem, Thomas thought he had a story that would resonate back home.

Lowell Thomas met T. E. Lawrence in Jerusalem for the first time in February 1918. Colonel Lawrence was fighting alongside Arab leaders such as Emir Feisal who were revolting against the Turks in the hopes of becoming the rulers of their own lands. Thomas spent over a week in Arabia with Lawrence, listening to his tales while photographing and filming him. The story of the fall of Jerusalem and Lawrence's role in it would later play a significant role in Lowell Thomas's life and career, and ignited the spark that propelled Lawrence to become a legendary historical figure.

When World War I ended in November 1918, Harry Chase returned to the United States to begin processing the photographs and reels of film that documented the Allied war effort. Soon Thomas would hire the superb artist Augusta Heyder to paint the hundreds of lantern slides that were made from the glass plate negatives. The lantern slides, which Heyder skillfully brought to life, would be used in his new travelogue productions.

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