Louisa Bowen Memorial Scholarship

Scholarship Sponsored by Midwest Archives Conference

Introduction and History
Louisa Hopkins Bowen began her archival career in 1975 as an archivist at Wayne State University. In 1976 she moved to New York City to serve as archivist for the National Board of the YWCA. From 1978 to 1980 Bowen worked as a cataloger and archivist at the University of Memphis. After relocating with her family to the St. Louis area, she spent five years as curator of manuscripts at the Morris Library, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, and subsequently accepted the archivist position at Lovejoy Library, Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. She held degrees from Skidmore College, Wayne State University, and New York University. Bowen died on October 24, 1996.

Bowen was deeply involved in the archival profession and her community: she belonged to the Midwest Archives Conference (MAC) and the Society of American Archivists and served as president of the Association of St. Louis Area Archivists. In recognition of her service to MAC — including roles as Legislative Update editor for the MAC Newsletter, council member, and program committee chair — MAC renamed its general scholarship in May 1997 the Louisa Bowen Memorial Scholarship for Graduate Students in Archival Administration.

Purpose
The scholarship provides financial support to a resident or a full-time student from the MAC region who is pursuing graduate-level archival administration training, and it seeks to promote study and professional development in archival administration.

Award
One recipient will receive a $1,500 scholarship (paid directly to the recipient’s educational institution) and a one-year membership in MAC.

Eligibility
To qualify, an applicant must:
- Be a resident of or a full-time student living in one of the following MAC states: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, or Wisconsin.
- Be currently enrolled in or accepted to a graduate, multi-course archival administration program. If the program is not listed in the SAA Directory of Archival Education, the applicant must submit course descriptions from the department’s current catalog to demonstrate the multi-course standard.
- Have a minimum grade point average of 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale) for the most recent academic year.

Application and Required Materials
Applications are due in April. Materials must be submitted as email attachments and include:
- Completed Application Form (available online)
- Current résumé, including:
- Education
- Archives-related employment, volunteer, or internship experience
- Campus and community involvement
- Other scholarships received for archival studies
- Honors and awards
- List of memberships in professional organizations
- Transcript from the most recent academic program
- An essay (500 words maximum) explaining your interest in archival administration and your future plans for contributing to the archival profession
- One letter of recommendation

Award Recipient Obligation
The scholarship recipient will be expected to write an article for the MAC Newsletter describing the academic activities supported by the scholarship and explaining how the award contributed to their graduate archival education.

Submission / Contact
Send the completed application and all supporting documents to:
Morgen MacIntosh Hodgetts, Chair (2024–2026)
Email: mmacinto@depaul.edu