The John Dowdy Memorial Congressional Research Endowed Fund was established in 1999 by the John and J. D. Dowdy Foundation, Inc. in memory of John Dowdy, former U. S. Congresman.

John Dowdy was born February 11, 1912, in Waco, Texas. He attended East Texas Baptist College at Marshall, Texas. He was the official court reporter for the 123rd Judicial District in Center, Texas, from 1931-1936, and official court reporter for the 3rd Judicial District in Athens, Texas, from 1937-1944. After completing the Texas State Bar examination in 1940, he practiced law and served as the District Attorney for Anderson, Houston, and Henderson counties from 1945-1952. He represented the 7th Congressional District that later became the 2nd Congressional District from 1953-1973.

John Dowdy was president and trustee of the John and J. D. Dowdy Foundation, Inc. and was a member of the Board of Direcors of the Cain Center, Trinity Valley Community College Foundation Board, First Baptist Church, Athens, Texas. He was the recipient of the Outstanding Henderson County Senior Citizen of the Year Award in 1984. Mr. Dowdy married Mary Ellen Fite in 1932. Following her death in 1943, he married J. D. Riley in 1946. She preceded him in death in 1992. Mr. Dowdy died at the age of 83 on April 12, 1995, in Athens, Texas.

The John and J. D. Dowdy Foundation, Inc. established the John Dowdy Memorial Congressional Research Endowed Fund to promote the use of the fine collection given by an outstanding man, John Dowdy, and to perpetuate his memory.