Lewis Elden Atherton

Lewis Eldon Atherton (1905–1989) was an American Historian, born March 1st, 1905, in Bosworth, MO. He was the son of Caleb and Ethel Atherton. Although born in Missouri, his family originated from Brown County, OH.

Education

Between 1923 and 1925 Atherton attended the University of Oklahoma, transferring to the University of Missouri in Columbia, MO graduating in 1927. He received his M.A. in 1930 and an PhD. in history in 1937.

Career

Atherton became a teacher at the New Mexico Military Institute, Roswell, NM (1928–1929), moving onto become an instructor at St. Joseph Junior College, St. Joseph, MO (1930–1931), followed by 5 years at Wentworth Military Academy Junior College, Lexington, MO (1931–1936).

He became an lecturer at the University of Missouri in Columbia, MO in 1936. Between 1939 and 1973 he was their professor of history. Since 2000, the Lewis E. Atherton Prizes at the University of Missouri are awarded to an outstanding doctoral dissertation and master's thesis on Missouri history or biography on an annual basis.

Honors

He is featured on the List of Guggenheim Fellowships awarded in 1941.[1]

Published works
  • The Pioneer Merchant in Mid-America - first published in 1939.
  • Frontier Merchant in Mid-America
  • The Southern Store, 1800–1860 - first published in 1949.
  • Main Street on the Middle Border - first published in 1954.
  • The Cattle Kings - first published in 1961. -

One of his most recognized works, “Main Street on the Middle Border” was published in 1954 by Bloomington: Indiana University Press. It is considered an important contribution to midwestern Social History.

He was also the author of many articles on frontier history in the Kansas Historical Quarterly Missouri Historical Review, Mississippi Valley Historical Review, the Pacific Historical Review and the Bulletin of the Business Historical Society, with an emphasis on Agricultural History. - Manuscript Collection. - collection of 178 published works.

He was also an active researcher of his own family history; his legacy donated to the University of Missouri.

Personal life

Atherton married Mary L. Webb on June 5th, 1929 in Roswell, NM.

He was father to three children; Richard F. (d. 1935), and two adopted daughters, Mary Ann (d.1965) and Barbara Lee (d. 1984).

Both Lewis and his wife Mary, and their daughter set up a number of endowments for educational benefit.[2]

References
  1. "John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowships to Assist Research and Artistic Creation: 1941". Archived from the original on 2 September 2006. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  2. "ENDOWMENTS". Libraries, University of Missouri. Retrieved 2020-05-17.
  • Lewis E. Atherton - Dictionary of Missouri Biography by Lawrence O. Christensen, William E. Foley, Gary Kremer.
  • - Guggenheim Fellowship
  • - Kansas historical Quarterly
  • - Missouri Historical Review
  • - A Centennial History of the State Historical Society of Missouri, 1898-1998
  • - The frontier merchant in Mid-America / by Lewis E. Atherton - National Library of Australia
  • - Find my Grave entry for Lewis E Atherton
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