Bowen, Louise de Koven, 1859-1953

Louise DeKoven Bowen (also Louise deKoven Bowen; February 26, 1859 – November 9, 1953) was an American philanthropist, civic leader, social reformer, and suffragist. She was born to a wealthy family and raised with a strong sense of noblesse oblige. She made substantial financial donations to numerous organizations, raised funds from her association with Chicago's elite families, and while not trained as a social worker, she served in the field as a competent and respected policy maker and administrator. She worked with the settlement movement at Hull House, court reform for youth via the Juvenile Protective Association, and numerous women's clubs and women's suffrage organizations. A primary passion of hers was the reform of dance halls in Chicago. At the end of her 94 years, she had provided care to the impoverished and disenfranchised through her extensive public service and activism, especially attending to "the welfare and betterment of women, children, and their families."