In this week’s edition of our “Famous Roads” series, we look at the namesake for Dr. Joseph E. Lowery Boulevard, the 2,000-foot roadway stretching from Governor’s Drive to Williams Avenue at Big Spring Park.
This Huntsville native played a vital role in the Civil Rights Movement, not just in Alabama, and was a champion for social justice throughout his adult life.
‘Dean of the Civil Rights Movement’ among our famous roads
Lowery was born in Huntsville in 1921 and attended the nearby William Hooper Councill High School. He attended Alabama A&M University (which was, at the time, Alabama A&M College), but graduated from Paine College in Georgia.
He then moved to Chicago, where he earned a Doctor of Divinity degree from the Chicago Ecumenical Institute. He also met his wife, Evelyn Gibson while living there…