Bowen High School was established in 1882, under the name South Chicago High School in one of the classrooms of the Bowen Elementary School (demolished), which was located at the northwest corner of 93rd Street and Houston Avenue in the then-independent community of South Chicago.[6] Fourteen pupils were given high school-level instruction. The elementary school and its successor high school were named for Colonel James H. Bowen (1822-1881), the first president of the Calumet and Chicago Canal Dock Company[7] and the man known as "the father of South Chicago".[8]
The two schools became separate institutions in 1910, when the current building was constructed at the northeast corner of Marquette and 89th Street.[9] It was designed by Dwight Perkins (1867–1941), supervising architect of the Chicago Public School system between 1905 and 1910,[10] and built "on identical plans" as its more famous cousin, Irving Park High School.[11] (opened as Carl Schurz High School[12] The latter building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[13] The building cost $700,000 and contained about 125 rooms; it was noted for its manual training and domestic science departments.[14] By the 1930s, Bowen's student body had grown to 4,600, due to the great increase in immigrants of Polish and Slavic descent in the South Chicago area.[15]
Athletics
Bowen competes in the Chicago Public League (CPL) and is a member of the Illinois High School Association (IHSA). Bowen sport teams are called the Boilermakers. The boys' baseball team were Public League champions in the 1953–54 and the 1971 season. The boys' soccer team were Public League champions three times (1979–80, 1980–81 and 1981–82).[2] the boys' football team were Blue Division champs in 1963 defeating Harlan 19-18. After taking a 13-0 lead at half time Bowen came back in the last two minutes of the game to win it on a pass from George Lalich to Steve Zinini. Steve served as a gunner on a chopper in Vietnam. The team got the ball back because of a fumble recovery by Jim Robinson who served as a marine in Vietnam. Those three were the heroes of the game. They were Blue Division Champs back to back in 1981, 1982 and 1983 defeating Harlan each time. The following year they moved up to The Red Division.
Eli Grba – former baseball player who pitched in the 1960 World Series as a member of the New York Yankees.
Bill Haarlow – early professional basketball player.
Roy Henshaw - former big-league left-handed pitcher who went 33-40 in parts of eight seasons (1933, 1935-1938, 1942-1944) in the majors, most notably with the "Chicago Cubs".
^Brubaker, C. William, Raymond Bordwell, Gaylaird Christopher (1998). Planning and Designing Schools. New York: McGraw-Hill. p. 10. ISBN0070494053.((cite book)): CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^"Roots of Bowen High Lie in Soil of 40 Nations - Students Will Show Off Citizen Training". Chicago Daily Tribune: S5. March 31, 1946.
^"THE FOURTH ON THE FIFTH - How the Day was Celebrated Yesterday in Chicago and Vicinity - Laying the Corner-Stone of the Joseph Brown Iron Works at South Chicago, etc. - South Chicago - An Interesting Ceremony". The [Chicago] Inter Ocean. IV (88): 1, 5. July 6, 1875.
^"MILLIONS FOR NEW SCHOOL - Twelve more annexes go up before June - AVOID DEFICIT, HOWEVER - First Teachers' Conference Opens with Five Hundred Present". Chicago Daily Tribune. LXVI (299): 8. September 24, 1907.
^"CHICAGO HONORS SCHURZ". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. 68 (327): 14. November 25, 1907.
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