CEEB code 140882 Phone +1 773-535-6000 Mascot Boilermakers | Principal Nia M. Abdullah | |
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Motto "Education stops, Not at the close of a book, But at the end of one's life." Established 18761910 (present building) Address 2710 E 89th St, Chicago, IL 60617, USA Similar Chicago Vocational High Sch, Harlan Community Academy, Simeon Career Academy, Fenger Academy High Sch, Bowen Environm Studies H | ||
James H. Bowen High School (known simply as Bowen High School) is a public 4–year high school located in the South Chicago neighborhood on the south side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Bowen is operated by the Chicago Public Schools district.
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From 1993 until 2011, Bowen was divided into four smaller schools. Today, the smaller schools have been re-consolidated back into one school.
History
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. Fourteen pupils were given high school-level instruction. The elementary school and its successor high school were named for Colonel James A. Bowen (1822-1881), the first president of the Calumet and Chicago Canal Dock Company and the man known as "the father of South Chicago".
The two schools became separate institutions in 1910 when the current building was constructed at the northeast corner of Marquette and 89th Street. It was designed by Dwight Perkins (1867–1941), supervising architect of the Chicago Public School system between 1905 and 1910, and built "on identical plans" as its more famous cousin, Irving Park High School. (opened as Carl Schurz High School The latter building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The building cost $700,000 and contained about 125 rooms; it was noted for its manual training and domestic science departments. 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.
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). the boys' football team were blue division champs in1963 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 heros of the game.