Chicago State University - Emblem Yearbook (Chicago, IL)

Page 13 text:

It is difficult to think of William B. Owen as having- departed from his scene of activity : his energ ;y was so intense and unremitting-, and his itality so contag-ious. He always gave of himself without reservation. Not merely his own school and the educational interests of Chicago, but those of the whole country have sntifered an irrejjarable hiss. I made the ac(|uaintance of Dr. Owen some thirty years ago. I knew him as student, teacher and administrator. While he was devoted at that time to study of the classics, his intellectual interests were ver}- broad and extended to the subject of i)hiloso])hy. His presence in some seminars in the latter subject made an indescribable contribution of insight and vigor. . s a teacher, I have never known anyone who surjiassed him. I have known him to take students quite ignorant of Latin and Greek and ])re])are them in a year for college aclmission. He did not, ht)wever, use tct get this result the tricks of a coacher. He imparted to those whom he taught his own sense of the meaning of the subject matter and in some subtle way made them feel that they were studying living, rather than dead, languages. As a teacher he ctimbined in a remarkable way the four essential traits: thorough connnand of subject matter, an almost intuiti e insight into the difficulties that it presented to the pupil, enormous enthusiasm in the communication of ideas, and an unflagging interest in the i)ersonal progress of his students. He carried the same qualities into his administrative work, as I knew him in that capacity first in the Old Southside . cademy, and then in the Uni- versity High School. He did not get results by routine attention to details, but by the communication of his own ideals, enthusiasm and insight. He was always a friend as well as a colleague. I have known no one who gave out from his own personality more generously and more affectionately than he did. The educational world will miss him. but it will retain something of the sjjirit and -italitv which he imparted. John Dewey, Professor of I ' hilosophv, C ' olumliia L ' ni -ersitv.

Page 12 text:

WILLIAxM BISHOP OWEN William liishop ()wen. the son of Thomas ' alter and Elizabeth Bishop Owen, Avas born in Union Station. Lickins:; ' County, Ohio, on Ai)ril 30. 1866. After taking- his A.B. degree at Denison University in 1887, Mr. Owen became instructor of classical and scientific subjects in AVestern, Penn- sylvania, 1887-88. From 1888-92 he taught in the Morgan Park Academy. On October 3, 1890 he was married to Lucy Caroline Anderson of Chicago. During- 1892-94 he was Fellow, tutor, examiner, instructor, and assistant professor at the University of Chicago, and in 1894-05 was associate pro- fessor of Greek. In 1897 he went to Berlin to study in the university there and in 1900-1901 studied at the University of Halle. In 1901 he received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, and in the same year that uni- versity made him principal and dean of the secondary school in which posi- tion he remained for eight years. He taught Philosophy of Education during- 1902-1909. in 1905 being made associate jjrofessor of Education at the University. In 1909 Dr. Owen became ])resident of the Chicago Normal College in which position he remained for nineteen years, to the time of his death. Februar - 17. 1928. Under his presidency the course of Xormal was lengthened from tw(. to three years. In 1917 he became j resident of the State Teachers ' Association. Dur- ing 1922-23 Dr. Owen was president of the X.E.A. (National Education Association ), an office which he himself stated in a speech was the highest honor to which an American schoolmaster could aspire. ' He held many other offices during his career. At )akland. San Fran- cisco. June 28-July (). 1923. he was chairman at the meeting of the World Conference on Education under the ausjiices of the N .E.A.. working through its committee of Foreign Relations. He was a member and in charge of the Reviewing Committee for the Commission on Reorganization of Secondary Education. He was also president of the Association for Peace Education. In a speech before the Principal ' s Club of Chicago. Ir. Beebe. president of the club, said : Dr. Owen i.s the most useful man in the school system of Chicago, the most useful man to the State Teachers ' Association of Illinois, and the most useful man to the nation.

Page 14 text:

EDUCATIONAL VISION Dr. 0 ven s capacity fcn Educational A ' ision ' was a source of inspira- tion and i)leasure to all those whose . ood fortune it was to be asst)ciated with him. He was keenly alive and sensiti e to the changing social struc- ture of our modern world, and he saw clearly the need of preparing the stu- dents to meet these new conditions. Through his splendid scholarship he was able to keep in close contact with the progress being made in Science and Art and with the effects that this new knowledge was having on the Avorld. Dr. Owen knew that a mere refinement in the technicpie of teach- ing the traditional curriculum was not the answer to the iJroblem. The challenge of the new day called for a re-evaluation of the existing educa- tional tradition and the addition to the curriculum of new knowledge, new values, and new social habits. With this in mind he visioned, ])lanned and l)artly executed a remarkable educational ]irogram. Since the Xormal I ' ollege was a training school for teachers, his first consideration was to i)roperly prejiare students to be successful teachers. A second and e(piall - important con ideration was to teach the students how to live an intelligent, successful and hapi)y life. In order to accomi)lish these aims. Dr. Owen planned that the student should accjuire the essential knowledge about the social and physical sciences that were sha])ing our modern world. He further believed that this knowledge should be accpiired in the process of trying to control and direct their daily life. I ' he health course which he established will serve as an illustration of this point. The training in chemistry, bacteriology, physiology, mental hygiene, physical education and dietetics which the students received was not only to enable them to understand these subjects as social factors, but was ])rimarily in- tended to find its immediate application in their daily health habits. His l)lan called for the same treatment in regard to literature, music and art. The students were not only to become acquainted with the great traditions in these subiects, but they were to use and develop their capacities in these fields through the medium of their daily tasks. Part of this scheme was realized in the increased time given to the teaching of these subjects and also through the colorful social functions such as the Christmas Week l- ete. -May Festival, Song Contest. Dr. Owen had also initiated student control in the management of school affairs. This was constantly being- extended so that eventually it would include student participation in all situatii This is a ery hasty and inade(|uate sketch of a ver - wonderful ision that a great educator left us. Alay we bring some of it t(.) fullillnient as a tribute to his meniorv. Henrv ( i. Cieilen.