Oral history with Most Reverend Joseph Lawson E. Howze

              Oral history with Most Reverend Joseph Lawson E. Howze
F341.5 . M57 vol. 747, pt. 2
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Biography
One of seven siblings, Bishop Joseph Howze was born August 30, 1923, in Daphne, Baldwin County, Alabama, to Albert Otis Howze Sr. and Helen Lawson Howze. His early childhood was spent on a truck farm in Alabama. As a child, Bishop Howze used much of his spare time reading; he enjoyed school and enjoyed playing childhood games with his extended family and friends. He attended all- black, segregated schools, and he was graduated from high school in Mobile, Alabama.
For a number of years, Bishop Howze was a teacher in public schools, a teacher in Catholic high schools in Oklahoma, and eventually went into seminary to study for the priesthood at St. Bonaventure University in New York. In 1959, Bishop Howze was ordained in the diocese of Raleigh, North Carolina, and he was appointed pastor of St. Anthony's, which was an all- black church in Asheville, North Carolina. From that church, Bishop Howze was appointed to become auxiliary bishop in Mississippi, coming to Jackson in 1972, and being ordained for it in 1973. He is the first bishop of the diocese of Biloxi; he is the recipient of a number of honorary college degrees, including a Doctorate Degree of Laws from the University of Portland, Oregon, Doctorate Degree of Laws from Manhattan College in New York City, Doctorate Degree from Sacred Heart College in Belmont, North Carolina, Doctor of Laws from University of St. Bonaventure, and a Doctorate Degree from Belmont Abbey College. These honorary degrees were awarded for years of service. On several occasions, Bishop Howze has met with Pope John Paul II, reporting to him on different aspects of the Catholic Church in the United States, including education, finances, marriages, social services, and the Housing Board.
Table of Contents
I. Family background
II. Childhood
III. Race relations mus- coh. howzej. doc Page 1 of 22