Edward Lowe - Part 1
Interviewee: Edward Lowe
Interviewers: Steven Payne and Mark Naison
Summary by Sarah Neiman
March 31, 2022
Abstract
Edward Lowe is a Bronx resident with a passion for helping others that came from his family’s history of participating in community outreach work. Dr. Lowe speaks intensively about his grandmother who volunteered in the Bronx for the majority of her life and his mother who has a distinguished legal and judicial career. Dr. Lowe himself has practiced medicine both as a civilian and in the armed services. It is this deep familial commitment to community service that Lowe highlights as the most important part of his personal history. Lowe’s grandmother, Bessie Johnson, grew up in Louisa County, Virginia, on a plantation that she inherited from slave owners when members of the family were slaves. Lowe’s family still owns the farm, and his cousin lives there and works there today. Johnson met Lowe’s grandfather in college while they were both studying at Virginia Union, and from there his grandfather served as a private in the first World War. It was during this time that the couple moved to West 57th St in New York, an area known as Little Africa at the time, and from there they moved to 121st St in Harlem, where Lowe’s mother was born and where the family established themselves in New York City. During this time, Johnson embarked on her most ambitious project, where she attempted and succeeded to replace PS 2 on 169th and 3rd. Through her work, students were able to learn in a more comfortable and safe environment. Both of his grandparents were also devout members of Mt. Olive church in Harlem, and they were directly involved in the work associated with church affairs - his grandfather was chair of the Board of Trustees. His grandparents being involved in their church proved to be a great example for Lowe, and he ended up becoming involved in his own church in his neighborhood, Riverside Church in Harlem, from age four until now. His grandparents' passion for community
outreach in the church inspired Lowe to become a devout member of the church as well as teach in the youth department at the church. In 1960, Lowe’s parents moved to Paulding Avenue, and they lived right next to the Fordham Rose Hill campus and the Bronx Zoo. At this time, Lowe’s mother had recently graduated from Brooklyn Law School in 1954, and was now getting her Masters in law at Columbia University. When he wasn’t bothering his mother studying, Lowe and his friends would often play around Paulding Avenue, visiting the Rose Hill campus and the Bronx Zoo. He also had a sister named Leslie and they both went to PS 59 on 183rd and Bathgate together. His family then moved to Teaneck, New Jersey, where Lowe went to high school. Then, he went back to New York and studied at Hunter College like his mother. After Hunter, Lowe went to medical school where he learned how to become a general surgeon in Harlem and eventually the army. Edward Lowe’s personal life today was greatly impacted by the rich family history and passion for community outreach that was always present within his family. His own personal experiences would not be the same without the inspiration of his grandparents and his parents, who provided him with life lessons that he has carried through with him into his life thus far.
