Earl Bowman Jr.
*Earl Bowman, Jr was born on this date in 1927. He was a Black teacher, coach, and administrator.
Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Earl Wesley Bowman was the son of Earl W. Bowman and Edith Peery Bowman. He had one brother, Henry, and two sisters, Alice and Harriet. After graduating from Minneapolis Central High School, he finished his undergraduate degree at Macalester College. Bowman was captain of the Macalester football team in 1949, graduating in the spring of 1950. In 1951, he married Jacqueline Elizabeth Ray; they had six children.
He played semiprofessional football with Minneapolis Bombers in the '50s and enjoyed a career centered around sports and education. He was the Boy's Work Director of the Phyllis Wheatley House, and Bowman taught history at his former high school for ten years. He was also the principal at Lincoln Junior High School. After that, he returned to Macalester College as Dean of Students. Bowman held numerous positions at Macalester, including vice president of student affairs, from 1969 to 1978.
During the 1980’s he became the first Black President of a Minnesota Community College at Minneapolis Community and Technical College MCTC). In 2004 MCTC established the "Earl W. Bowman Leaders of the Future Scholarship Fund." Bowman received many awards for his accomplishments in education and his influence in the community. The gymnasium at Minneapolis Community and Technical College was named in his honor. Bowman, a lifelong member of St. Peter’s AME Church, was also chosen as Macalester's "Athlete of the Half-Century" in 1950. He was a member of the Macalester's athletic Hall of Fame. Earl Bowman died on June 10, 2005.
