Title: David Lowe Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1960-1966

Creator:

• Lowe, David, 1913 or 14-1965

Call Number: U.S. Mss 25AF

Quantity: 0.4 c.f. (1 archives box)

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

Abstract:

Papers of an award-winning producer of investigative documentaries for CBS Reports. Of the three programs represented, coverage of “Abortion and the Law” is best. Present are a broadcast script, unedited tape transcripts of interviews with physicians and women who had illegal abortions, research material, photographs, and a posthumous book completed by Lowe's wife Harriett Van Horne based on the program. “Harvest of Shame,” which concerned the plight of migrant farm workers and which is considered a classic of the genre, is represented by two tape transcripts, a broadcast script, and 16 photographs taken during filming. For “Murder and the Right to Bear Arms,” there is only a final script.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-us0025af

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Biographical information about the career of television producer David Lowe is very sketchy. The New York Times Television Encyclopedia (1977) says of him only that he was the producer of “bold investigative documentaries for CBS Reports, who in 1960 contributed one that is considered a classic, the disturbing “Harvest of Shame,” narrated by Edward R. Murrow. A few days after his death, he won an Emmy for “KKK: The Invisible Empire.” Other of his documentaries were reports on such matters as the racial strife in Birmingham, Alabama, the threat of nuclear war, the right to bear arms, abortion and the law, the funeral industry in the U.S., and the racial situation in South Africa.”

Lowe, who was married to columnist Harriett Van Horne, died September 25, 1965.

The papers consist entirely of material for CBS Reports. Coverage is best for “Abortion and the Law,” for which the collection contains a broadcast script, unedited tape transcripts, research material, photographs, and a posthumous book based on the program that was completed by Harriett Van Horne. The tape transcripts are arranged by reel number, and although an incomplete record of the interviewing done in preparation for the program, they provide much more extensive coverage of the subject than is offered by the broadcast script alone. Included are numerous conversations with physicians and women who had illegal abortions. Though the “Harvest of Shame” program is better known than “Abortion and the Law,” it is represented only by two segments of transcribed tape, a final script, and 16 photographs taken during the filming. For “Murder and the Right to Bear Arms,” there is only a broadcast script.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Harriett Van Horne, New York, N.Y., July 8, 1971. Accession Number: MCHC71-66

Processing Information

Processed by Carolyn J. Mattern, July 1979.

	CBS Reports
	“Harvest of Shame,” 1960, November 25
Box   1 Folder   1	Broadcast Script
Box   1 Folder   2	Tape Transcripts
Box   1 Folder   3	Photographs
	“Murder and the Right to Bear Arms,” 1964, June 10
Box   1 Folder   4	Script
	“Abortion and the Law,” 1965, April 5
Box   1 Folder   5	Script
Box   1 Folder   6	Research Material and Notes
Box   1 Folder   7-10	Tape Transcripts
Box   1 Folder   11	Abortion and the Law(1966)