Turkiya L. Lowe (born December 1, 1977) is an American historian. In 2017, she became the first woman and first African American to be the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propert ...

's Chief Historian and Deputy Federal Preservation Officer.

Early life and education

Lowe was born on December 1, 1977, to parents Vincent L. Small and Patricia D. Lowe in

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the British colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later t ...

. She graduated from Herschel V. Jenkins High School in 1996 and enrolled at

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a Private university, private, University charter#Federal, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, classifie ...

for a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

degree. During the summer of her senior year at Howard, she worked with the

's (NPS) Cultural Resources Diversity Internship Program as a Student Conservation Association Intern. She subsequently earned her

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Th ...

degree in 20th century US History and Doctor of Philosophy in African American History from the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattl ...

. As a doctoral student, Lowe continued to work with NPS as a reviewer with the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

and coordinator of the Cultural Resources Diversity Internship Program.

Career

Upon completing her doctorate in 2010, Lowe became coordinator of the NPS Cultural Resources Diversity Internship Program and served as the Southeast Regional Program (SER) Manager for the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program. From there, she assumed the position of SER Chief Historian and Chief for the Southeast Region's Cultural Resource Research and Science Branch. As the Southeast Region's chief historian, Lowe helped establish the Reconstruction Era National Historical Park. In January 2017, at the age of 39, Lowe became the first woman and first African American to be the

's Chief Historian and Deputy Federal Preservation Officer.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lowe, Turkiya 1977 births Living people American women historians Howard University alumni University of Washington alumni 21st-century American women