Margaret Davis Bowen (May 24, 1894 – April 1976) was a religious leader, civil rights activist and educator who led the Gilbert Academy, a top private black college in New Orleans, during the late 1930s. She received her M. Ed. from the University of Cincinnati in 1935.[1] From 1936 to 1939 she served as international president of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority,[2] which has a Margaret Davis Bowen Outstanding Alumni Award for the Southeast Region. In 1948 she resigned from Gilbert and moved to Atlanta where she was active in the Methodist church.
Margaret Davis Bowen | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 24, 1894 |
| Died | April 1976 (aged 81) |
| Alma mater | University of Cincinnati (M.Ed.) |
| Employer(s) | Gilbert Academy, New Orleans, LA |
| Organization(s) | Just Us, Atlanta, GA; Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority |
| Known for | Educational and religious leader |
| Spouse | John Wesley Edward Bowen |
| Children | John W. E. Bowen III |
She was the first president of the neighborhood association of Just Us, a tiny westside neighborhood of Atlanta near Washington Park,[3] which has dedicated a small park in her honor.
She died in April 1976 after a period of illness in a nursing home in Columbus, Ohio.[4]
She was married to John Wesley Edward Bowen, a bishop in the Methodist church.[5]
A son, John W. E. Bowen III, was a state senator in Ohio.
Publications edit
- "Youth in a Changing World", The Ivy Leaf, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, March 1939. Vol. 17, No. 1.
References edit
- ^ "The American Negro in College, 1934-35". The Crisis. August 1935. p. 235.
- ^ Alpha Kappa Alpha Archived 2010-12-31 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Just Us Neighbors site as retrieved 2010-12-07: cached copy[dead link]
- ^ "Census: Died". Jet. Johnson Publishing Company. May 27, 1976. p. 9.
- ^ Cavazos, Mary Kay (1960). Considering What Others Say I Am: African American Women and Foreign Mission (PDF) (Thesis). Drew University. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-18.
External links edit
- New Orleans Tribune, "Gilbert Academy’s Legacy of Distinction", November 1985
- "Award from Alpha-Bettes". Jet. Johnson Publishing Company. May 4, 1961. p. 19.
- Margaret Davis Bowen's frozen custard recipe: Sue Bailey Thurman; Anne Bower; National Council of Negro Women (2000). The Historical Cookbook of the American Negro. Boston: Beacon Press. p. 75. ISBN 0-8070-0964-4. Retrieved 2011-01-01.