HR0320 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0320 LRB097 11804 GRL 55058 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives are pleased to congratulate the administration, teachers, and students of James Harvey Bowen High School in Chicago on the occasion of the school's 100th anniversary; and

WHEREAS, The James Harvey Bowen High School now enters its second century of providing a facility for the young citizens of South Chicago to obtain a quality education; and

WHEREAS, Named after a young entrepreneur, founder of the Calumet and Chicago Canal and Dock Company, and chairman of the Republican State Central Committee at the time of President Abraham Lincoln's assassination, James Harvey Bowen High School's current building was built in 1910 to replace the old structure on 93rd and Houston Avenue that was built as an elementary school in 1876; the building opened with 14 students enrolled in a one-room class; the structure was eventually enlarged to serve children of all elementary grade levels and four rooms were allocated for high school work; the building then served as a branch until 1960 and was subsequently razed; and

WHEREAS, Designed by famed school architect Dwight Perkins, a Prairie School contemporary of Frank Lloyd Wright, Bowen High School's current building was built for an enrollment of 1,400; by the mid-1930s, however, its student body had burgeoned to 4,600 due to the migration of Polish, Slavic, and other immigrants into South Chicago; in 1970, a new gymnasium, 30 new classrooms, four large study halls, and a two-story library were erected; and

WHEREAS, As the population of South Chicago grew, Bowen High School came to be considered one of the city's finest high schools; throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the Bowen tradition of academic excellence continued; by 1965, 73% of the senior class went on to college; as a cultural and education institution serving today's youth under the auspices of the Chicago High School Redesign Initiative, Bowen was divided into four "small schools" in 2002: the Chicago Discovery Academy, BEST or the Bowen Environmental Studies Team, the Global Visions Academy, and the New Millennium School of Health; these four "schools-within-a-school" are funded by the Chicago Board of Education and receive additional support from the Bill and Melanie Gates Foundation; each small school has an enrollment of about 400 students, is staffed by certified teachers, and has its own principal; and

WHEREAS, Bowen High School graduates have influenced the arts, industry, law, and government; the school has been the alma mater of many talented, successful, and famous people from vastly diverse fields of endeavor, such as renowned drummer Gene Krupa, Hollywood director Andrew Davis, and late radio personality Ed Schwartz; this historic educational institution continues to meet the educational needs of future generations who will call the South Chicago neighborhood their home; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate the administration, teachers, and students of James Harvey Bowen High School in Chicago on the occasion of the school's 100th anniversary; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be prepared and presented to James Harvey Bowen High School as a symbol of our respect and esteem.