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Guide to the Chester Harvey Rowell Papers, 1882-1940
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Title: Chester Harvey Rowell Papers,
Date (inclusive): 1882-1940
Creator:
Rowell, Chester Harvey, 1867-?
Extent: 1.25 linear feet
Repository:
Henry Madden Library (California State University, Fresno).
Sanoian Special Collections Library.
Sanoian Special Collections Library.
Fresno, California
Language:
English.
The papers were donated by Barbara Laughlin, Rowell's daughter, in 1983.
The collection is open for research.
Copyright has not been transferred to California State University, Fresno.
[Identification of item], Chester Harvey Rowell Papers, Sanoian Special Collections
Library, California State University, Fresno.
Chester Harvey Rowell was born in Bloomington, Illinois, in 1867. In his youth, he went
to Europe to study and travel. After his return, he taught at a small college in Kansas
for a year and then came to Fresno, California, to be a high school instructor in
mathematics and German. After two years in Fresno, Rowell joined the faculty at the
University of Illinois, where he remained for a year. He returned to Fresno in 1898 to
become the editor and manager of the
Fresno Morning Republican, positions
he maintained for twenty-two years. In 1912, on the death of his uncle Dr. Chester Rowell
the founder and president of the board of directors of the newspaper, Rowell became
president of the board. After leaving Fresno, Rowell became the editor and director of
the
San Francisco Chronicle.
Rowell also had a highly active political career. In 1907, he helped to organize the
Lincoln Roosevelt League of California, the Republican party reform organization of which
he was president for several years. He was chairman of the Republican state convention in
1910 and 1912, and a delegate from California, first to the Republican and then to the
Progressive national convention. During this period, he served on a subcommittee which
wrote the platforms of both political parties. In 1916, Rowell became a member of the
Republican national campaign committee from California and between 1916 to 1918 he was
chairman of the Republican state committee of California.
After his retirement from newspaper work in 1920, Rowell worked actively to promote
general international good will among nations bordering the Pacific Ocean and spent much
time in the Orient as a member of the Institute of Pacific Relations.
The Chester Harvey Rowell papers measure 1.25 linear feet and date from 1882 to 1937. The
collection predominantly consists of correspondence to Rowell's family, in particular, to
his sister, Cora. These are personal letters in which he reveals his feelings about his
current place of employment or his opinions about the various places he has traveled.
Also included are Rowell's marriage announcement and editorials from the
Fresno
Morning Republican
and the
San Francisco Chronicle.
The collection also contains of correspondence from Dr. Chester Rowell, a prominent
physician in Fresno, to his nephew and niece, Chester and Cora.
Interfiled with the correspondence are typed transcripts (some incomplete) of
approximately half of the family's letters, done by Schyler Rehart, a former journalism
professor at California State University, Fresno.
-
Title: Chester Harvey Rowell Papers,The Bancroft Library, University of California at Berkeley
Other sources of information in Special Collections (Woodward Collection)
-
Bogart, Victor.
Chester Harvey Rowell and the Lincoln Roosevelt League, 1907-1910 (M.A thesis--University of California, 1962).
f F866. R6 B63 -
Cormier, William C.
Chester Harvey Rowell: the 1916 Election (M.A. thesis--Fresno State College, 1969)
f F866. R6 C67 1969 -
Everett, Miles Chapman.
Chester Harvey Rowell, Pragmatic Humanist and California Progressive (Ph.D. thesis--University of California, 1966)
F866. R6 E8 1967