I found a simply fabulous photo of Dr. Lovett the other day, one with what certainly appears to be a smile:
I know it was taken in New Orleans in June, 1938 because there was a clipping on the back about his visit to Tulane to give that year’s commencement speech. He’s a hard one to read but I do think that the first paragraph fits pretty well with my general impression of him:
I’m certain that we have a copy in the Woodson of the talk he gave that day and if I have a moment tomorrow I’ll go take a look at it.
Here’s a picture from the Times-Picayune the day after the ceremony, which I include because it shows Lovett with Tulane president Rufus Carrollton Harris, who I revere as one of the finest leaders of higher education in the history of the American South. If there were any justice in the world Tulane would be called the Rufus C. Harris Memorial University.
Bonus: Spotted on a campus white board.
The bonus picture pointedly sums up today’s political climate.
It would be nice if in today’s world, other Presidential level officials would also be careful to “weigh their words” and not give “unpremeditated statements to the press”. I can’t imagine Lovett telling the press that thousands of Texans had to be rescued because they foolishly went hurricane watching in their private boats.
Those white suits, though!