One of the early “Black Heritage Awards” dinners took place in February 1981 at the Abigail Harding Lewis Auditorium where Mrs. Myrtle Reid Lowe won a “Citizen Award.”
According to Horace G. Worthington, one of the organizers that year, Myrtle Lowe was an “amazing person and the pride of the community.”
The current President of the Marion Women’s Club, Madge Cooper Guthery, had the honor of presenting the award to Mrs. Lowe for her commitment to civic engagement and leadership.
Born in Georgia, Mrs. Myrtle Reid Lowe attended Spelman College, married John Hope Lowe, and moved to Marion in 1939 where John worked in construction. A church member and civic leader, Mrs. Lowe worked tirelessly to support her community on the north side of Marion, always ready to send, as President Guthery noted, “flowers, food, or money to those in need.” By 1981, Mrs. Lowe had helped found one of Marion’s earliest community centers - the Northeast Neighborhood Center on Mark Street. Along with making Marion history, Mrs. Lowe also helped to preserve it with her curatorial work at the newly established Stengel-True Museum.
