Lownes, Edgar John (1871-1924)
Role: Brown parent and benefactorDates: 1908-1924
Portrait Location: Library annex
Artist: Burleigh, Sydney Richmond (1853-1931)
Portrait Date: ca, 1920
Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions:
Framed Dimensions:
Brown Portrait Number: 234
Brown Historical Property Number: 1649
Edgar John Lownes was a Providence industrialist, philanthropist, and Brown parent. Born Edgar Lowenstein in 1870, he changed his name to Lownes during a period of anti-German sentiment in America in 1917. He was married to Therese K. Lownes (1877-1970), with whom he had three children; a daughter, and two sons. Their sons graduated from Brown in the classes of 1920 and 1923 (cf. BP 233.) His son E. John Lownes, Jr., who shared his father's name, was known as "Johnny" to distinguish him from his father; and was a lifelong supporter of his alma mater, serving as a trustee of the university and as a director of the Brown Alumni Association.
Edgar Lownes founded the American Silk Spinning Company in 1908, and served as its President until his death in his 54th year. The American Silk Spinning Company was based in Providence, Rhode Island, where Lownes was known not only for his textile manufactory but also for his interest in a number of community enterprises. One of them was the Providence Music League, which provided musical concerts for workers at a nominal cost. After his death his wife established the Edgar John Lownes Memory Day Fund in memory of her husband, to support an annual Edgar John Lownes Memory Day Concert.
A native of New York, Lownes learned the silk manufacturing business in Patterson, New Jersey. After some years in the silk business in Whitehall, New York he founded the American Silk Spinning Company in Providence. He was associated with the Franklin Machine Company, also based in Providence, and was active with the Allied Silk Trading Corporation in New York.
In Rhode Island Lownes was widely known for his business connections, his membership in numerous fraternal organizations and clubs; and as a supporter of educational institutions. He served on the Visiting Committee of Brown University and on the Textile Committee of Rhode Island School of Design. Over the years he served as a director of the Providence Institution for Savings, the Industrial Trust Company, the Narragansett Puritan Life Insurance company, the Church House of Providence, the Narragansett Pier Improvement Society and the Shannon Copper Corporation.
Edgar John Lownes died on January 2, 1924, at the age of 53. In 1930 his widow remarried, to Dr. Eugene Allan Noble (1865-1948.) Mrs. Lownes Noble, as she called herself thereafter, was known as an astute businesswoman, an early advocate of women's rights, a world traveler and a devoted supporter of charitable organizations dedicated to the benefit of Rhode Island workers, children and servicemen. Her 1970 obituary noted that one of her most unusual interests was "13-cent concerts," which were held for the benefit of mill workers and their families in various halls in Greater Providence. Theresa Lownes Noble outlived Edgar Lownes by 46 years, and died on December 13, 1970, at the age of 93.
The university's portrait of Edgar John Lownes is unsigned, and has not yet been attributed to an artist on basis of style. The Brown University Archives has no record of the year in which it was painted, though a proposed date of c. 1920 has been assigned based on the style of the suit and shirt collar pictured in the portrait. In 2004 the painting was treated at the Williamstown (Massachusetts) Art Conservation Center, where surface dirt and grime were removed, minor paint losses were restored, and a new layer of clear protective varnish was applied. In the same year a new frame was made for the painting by the Frame Gild in Central Falls, Rhode Island.