Peggy Bolton

Elsie Elizabeth McLundie Bolton, known as Peggy Bolton (August 19, 1917 - March 22, 1987), was a civic and cultural figure in Alexandria, Louisiana, particularly known for her devotion to historical preservation and the arts.

Background

A native of Chattanooga, Tennessee, Bolton was the daughter of Elizabeth Griffiths and Archibald Stevenson McLundie. She moved to Alexandria at an early age and graduated from Bolton High School in 1933. After graduation from the female Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri, she attended Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.^[1]

On April 14, 1939, she married the banker Robert H. Bolton, son of James W. Bolton in Alexandria and remained in Alexandria. The couple had three children, Robert H. Bolton, Jr., of Princeton, New Jersey, Elizabeth Bolton Hassinger, wife of Robert C. Hassinger of New Orleans, and Mary Bolton Jennings, wife of James K. Jennings, Jr., of Houston, Texas.^[1]

Cultural contributions

In 1977, Bolton founded the Alexandria Museum. She received a special congressional citation from Louisiana's 8th congressional district, since disbanded, for outstanding civic and community service to the nation, state and community. She organized and was the first president of the Historical Association of Central Louisiana. From the New Orleans chapter of the Landmarks Society, she received the Harriet Kane Award, which designates the individual who has best promoted an understanding of historic Louisiana. The Alexandria Daily Town Talk honored Bolton with the Alexandria Civic Oscar Award for achievement in community service. Bolton was a president of the Louisiana State Museum Board, the first woman and the first non-resident of New Orleans ever to hold this position. She was also a founder of the museum board foundation. She was a member of the President's National Council on Historic Preservation and the state review committee which recommends entries to the National Register of Historic Places.

Bolton was a president and chairman of board of the restored Kent Plantation House in Alexandria, the oldest known standing structure in Rapides Parish, completed in 1800.^[2] Bolton was a member of the boards of the Alexandria Historical and Genealogical Library and the Anglo American Art Museum in Baton Rouge. She donated two sculptures, "Moses" and "John the Baptist," by Charles Umlauf to Louisiana College in Pineville and the sculpture "Angels" by Lyn Emory to Emmanuel Baptist Church, her home congregation in downtown Alexandria.

Death and legacy

Bolton died in Alexandria at the age of sixty-nine. Along with other Bolton family members, she and her husband Robert are interred at Greenwood Memorial Park in Pineville. Bolton received posthumous recognition from the Louisiana Association of Museums, the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation, and Tourism, and the Historical Association of Louisiana. The Elizabeth McLundie Bolton Golden Circle Award recognizes those who promote excellence in the arts.^[1]

The annual Peggy Bolton Lecture Series, sponsored by the Historical Association of Central Louisiana, was organized and named in her honor by the late Louisiana College psychology professor George E. Hearn.^[3]

References