Bowen Park namesake leaves great legacy

Bowen Park in Waukegan is the legacy of one of Chicago's great social reformers, Louise DeKoven Bowen.

Bowen (1859-1953) was born into a wealthy Chicago family, but from an early age was drawn to the needs of the poor and underprivileged. After she married banker Joseph T. Bowen, the couple's Astor Street mansion became the site of many social and political gatherings. In 1893, Bowen began a friendship with another social reformer, Jane Addams, founder of Hull House, and became one of Addams' key benefactors.

Hull House was founded in 1889 by Jane Addams and Ellen Gages Starr on Chicago's near west side. The settlement house became a center of social reform and cultural activity for immigrant women and children.

According to Addams, the purpose was to "Aid in the solutions of life in a great city, to help our neighbors build responsible, self-sufficient lives for themselves and their families."

Bowen and Addams shared many core values including women's suffrage and children's health. Bowen expanded Hull House's offerings by founding the Joseph T. Bowen Country Club in Waukegan in 1912 in memory of her late husband. She purchased and donated the 72-acre site to the Jane Addams Hull House Association, fulfilling Addams' longtime dream of giving city children a taste of summer in the country. The summer camp provided a country setting where disadvantaged mothers and children from the Taylor and Halstead area of Chicago could come.

Over 40,000 women and children benefited from summer stays at the Joseph T. Bowen Country Club which operated from 1912 to 1962. Every two weeks during the summer, "campers" arrived at the Bowen Country Club where they were given relief from noise, pollution and fear of the city streets and taught to respect each other and the environment.

One camp counselor recalled that "in a setting of great beauty, people of many races, religions and ethnic backgrounds lived, worked, played, ate, sang and danced together in an atmosphere of harmony and joy."

After Addams died in 1935, Bowen became the president of the Hull House Association. Bowen was also instrumental in convincing Cook County to establish a separate court system for juveniles, the first in the United States.

In 1963, the Waukegan Park District purchased the Bowen Country Club, and in 1978 the site was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Today, Bowen Park continues as a beautiful country setting, with the addition of the Jack Benny Center of the Arts, and Waukegan Historical Museum.