Lenox Riley Lohr Papers

An inventory of the collection at the University of Illinois at Chicago

Biographical Sketch

Lenox Riley Lohr (1891-1968) made his early reputation in Chicago as General Manager of the 1933-1934 world's fair, A Century of Progress. He was very successful in supervising the fair operation. A Century of Progress, inc not only paid its bondholders in full, it also closed with a surplus. At the conclusion of the fair, Lohr became President of the National Broadcasting Co. in New York, but he returned to Chicago in 1940 to succeed Rufus C. Dawes as head of the Museum of Science and Industry. Under Lohr's direction, the Museum gained an international reputation as a showplace of American science and technology with wide popular appeal. During his twenty-eight years as head of the Museum, Lohr also organized the Chicago Railroad Fair in 1948-1949; the Centennial of Engineering in 1952; and the Military-Industrial Conferences in 1955-1957. He was a member of the Chicago Park Fair Corporation and its successor, the Metropolitan Fair and Exposition Authority from 1950 to 1959. He organized and directed the first Illinois Civil Defense agency from 1950 to 1953, and he served as Chairman of the Illinois Higher Education Commission from 1954-1959. A charter member of the University of Illinois Citizens Committee, he also directed the University's fundraising efforts to restore the Jane Addams' Hull-House at the Chicago Circle Campus. In addition, he maintained active membership in a number of professional engineering societies as well as various civic and charitable groups in Chicago.

Lenox Lohr was born in Washington DC, and graduated from Cornell University with a degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1916. He was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the Army in 1916 and appointed to the Corps of Engineers the following year. He served with the AEF in France, where he was promoted to Major and received a Silver Star for gallantry in the Meuse-Argonne offensive. From 1922-1929, he was Executive Secretary of the Society of Military Engineers, and editor of its journal The Military Engineer. He resigned from the Army in 1929 to become General Manager of A Century of Progress, and subsequently joined the Naval Reserve. He held the rank of Lt. Commander from 1929-1941. Both the Army and the Navy awarded him Distinguished Civilian medals.

Lohr received eight honorary degrees and numerous awards and citations. These included the Rosenberger Medal of the University of Chicago in 1963, and the Medal of Merit from the City of Chicago in 1965. His published books reflect his career interests. They include Magazine Publishing, 1932; TV Broadcasting, 1940; Fair Management, 1952 and Centennial of Engineering, 1953. Married to Florence Josephine Wimsatt in 1924, Lohr had five children and resided in Evanston, Illinois.

Scope and Contents

This collection contains both personal and professional papers of Lenox Riley Lohr. The personal papers include correspondence, newspaper clippings, photographs, and military material. The professional papers include speeches, articles, correspondence, newspaper clippings on such topics as the Jane Addams Memorial Fund, the Century of Progress, the Chicago Railroad Fair, the Illinois Commission of Higher Education, the Museum of Science and Industry, and NBC.

Detailed Description/Box and Folder Listing