John W. E. Bowen Sr. facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
John W. E. Bowen Sr.
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| Born | December 3, 1855  New Orleans |
| Died | July 20, 1933 (aged 77) |
| Resting place | South-View Cemetery |
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John Wesley Edward Bowen (1855–1933) was an amazing African American leader. He was born into slavery but became a Methodist minister, a teacher, and one of the first African Americans to earn a Ph.D. in the United States. He got his Ph.D. from Boston University in 1887.
Contents
Biography
Early Life and Freedom
John W. E. Bowen was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1855. His father, Edward Bowen, bought freedom for John and his mother, Rose Simon Bowen, when John was three years old. This was a very important step for their family.
Edward Bowen later fought in the Union Army during the Civil War. Rose Simon Bowen's grandmother was an African princess from the Jolloffer tribe.
Education and Teaching
After the Civil War, John W. E. Bowen went to the Union Normal School in New Orleans. He also studied at New Orleans University, a school started by the Methodist Episcopal Church to educate formerly enslaved people.
Bowen earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1878, being part of the university's first graduating class. From 1878 to 1882, he taught math, Latin, and Greek at Central Tennessee College in Nashville.
In 1882, Bowen began studying to become a minister at Boston University. While he was a student, he also worked as a pastor at a church in Boston, Massachusetts. He earned a Master of Arts degree from New Orleans University in 1884.
In 1885, he completed his Bachelor of Sacred Theology degree from Boston University. His classmates chose him as one of two students to speak at their graduation ceremony.
Marriage and Advanced Studies
After graduating, Bowen became a pastor at St. John's Methodist Episcopal Church in Newark, New Jersey. He received another Master of Arts degree from New Orleans University in 1886.
In 1886, he married Ariel Serena Hedges from Baltimore, Maryland. They had four children together.
That same year, Bowen started his Ph.D. program at Boston University, focusing on historical theology. He also studied many languages like Greek, Latin, Hebrew, and German. In 1887, Boston University gave him his Ph.D. degree. This made him one of the first African Americans to achieve this high level of education.
Work in Baltimore and Washington D.C.
After getting his Ph.D., Bowen mainly worked as a pastor. He led the Centennial Methodist Episcopal Church in Baltimore. He also taught church history and theology at Morgan College.
Bowen was a very good speaker. During his time as a pastor, he led a special event where 735 people became church members. He also served as a pastor in Washington, D.C., and taught Hebrew at Howard University.
From 1889 to 1893, Bowen was part of the American Institute of Sacred Literature. In 1892, he wrote a book called "What Shall the Harvest Be?" This book offered advice to African Americans on their challenges. He also represented the Methodist Episcopal church at important world conferences in 1891 and 1901.
Years at Gammon Theological Seminary
In 1893, Bowen became a professor at Gammon Theological Seminary in Atlanta, Georgia. This seminary was founded to train African American ministers. He was the first African American to teach there full-time. He also edited a magazine for missionaries called the Stewart Missionary Magazine.
In 1895, Bowen gave an important speech called "An Appeal to the King" at the Atlanta Cotton States' Exposition. That same year, he organized a big conference about Africa and published its discussions.
Bowen also helped organize a national conference in Atlanta about Christian education for African American youth. He worked with Irvine Garland Penn to publish the speeches from this event, called "The United Negro."
In 1904, Bowen and Jesse Max Barber started The Voice of the Negro, a magazine for African Americans across the country. In 1905, they supported the Niagara Movement, which worked for equal rights. They also helped start the Georgia Equal Rights League. At its most popular, The Voice of the Negro had up to 15,000 readers.
In 1906, Bowen became the President of Gammon Seminary. However, a terrible race riot happened in Atlanta that September. White rioters attacked black people. Bowen opened the seminary to give shelter to black people escaping the violence. Three days later, he was beaten and arrested by the police.
Jesse Max Barber left the city and moved The Voice of the Negro to Chicago. Bowen survived the riot and continued to serve as Gammon's President until 1910.
Bowen retired from teaching church history at Gammon in 1926. He continued to teach until 1932, becoming an emeritus professor.
Family and Legacy
John W. E. Bowen and his first wife, Ariel Serena Hedges Bowen, had four children. Their son, John W.E. Bowen Jr., also became a very important figure in the Methodist Episcopal church and was elected a bishop in 1949.
Bowen's first wife passed away in 1904. In 1906, he married Irene L. Smallwood. John W. E. Bowen Sr. died on July 20, 1933. He was the last living member of his graduating class from New Orleans University and the oldest living former student of the school.
Who has not heard of John Wesley Edward Bowen, who was born in New Orleans in 1855, educated there and at Boston University and has worked at Morgan, Howard and Gammon? For twenty-five years while at Gammon he has been the kind of upstanding figure in the Methodist Episcopal Church which has made that church hesitate to get rid of him and his kind.
Images for kids
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John W. E. Bowen Sr.'s signature
See also
In Spanish: John W. E. Bowen Sr. para niños
