LOUISE DEKOVEN BOWEN

SOCIAL REFORMER, 9 NOVEMBER 1953

Louise DeKoven Bowen February 26, 1859 – November 9, 1953) was an American philanthropist, civic leader, social reformer, and suffragist.

Born in Chicago, Illinois, her parents were Helen Hadduck and John deKoven, a banker. In 1875, she graduated from Dearborn Seminary.

A lifelong member of St. James Episcopal Church,she was frustrated with the limitations for women within the church.Assisting Jane Addams, Bowen became an officer and trustee of the Hull House. She served as president of the Juvenile Court Committee of Chicago, and after its reorganization into the Juvenile Protective Association, she became its first president. In 1912, she endowed the summer camp for Hull House's poor children, the Bowen Country Club in Waukegan, Illinois (now known as Bowen Park. She served as vice president of the United Charities, and was a leader in the women's suffrage movement, serving as auditor of the National American Woman Suffrage Association. By appointment of President Warren G. Harding, she was the official representative of the US at the Pan-American Conference of Women (1922).

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