SPRINGFIELD – Alan Lowe, a veteran historian and archivist, began work Monday as the new director of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum.
“This is an incredible and humbling opportunity. Abraham Lincoln is a towering figure in American history,” Lowe said. “I hope my experience can help the Lincoln Presidential Library meet its responsibility to tell his story to the world.”
Lowe spent 20 years with the system of presidential libraries operated by the National Archives and Records Administration.
Most recently, he was inaugural director of the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum in Dallas. Lowe oversaw every aspect of the library’s establishment, from the development, design, and construction stages, to the 2013 dedication and the first three years of public operations.
He began as an archivist at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum, then spent 11 years in the National Archives’ central Office of Presidential Libraries in Washington, D.C. He later served as acting director of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum.
Lowe was also founding executive director of the Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. That center was not part of the National Archives.
Lowe, 52, is a native of Kentucky. He has both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree from the University of Kentucky. He lives in Springfield with his wife, Kathy, and daughter, Carolyn. They have two dogs: Theodore Rex (named after Teddy Roosevelt) and Lincoln.
The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, a division of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, is dedicated to telling the story of America’s 16th president through old-fashioned scholarship and modern technology.
The library holds an unparalleled collection of Lincoln books, documents, photographs, artifacts and art, as well as some 12 million items pertaining to all aspects of Illinois history. The museum uses traditional exhibits, eye-catching special effects and innovative story-telling techniques to educate visitors.
