Title

Ms. Beverly Bowens on Education

Authors

Vanessa Saric

Files

Description

Ms. Beverly Bowens Full Interview

Beverly Bowens was born in Portland, Maine, in 1934, and grew up on Munjoy Hill. She had one older brother. Her father was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin; her mother’s family had been in Portland for generations. She graduated from Portland High School, attended Mercy Hospital School of Nursing, and then moved to New York City to attend Teacher’s College at Columbia University; as of this interview, she had a bachelor’s degree in nursing, a master’s degree in nursing administration, and a master’s degree in institutional education. She married a surgeon and they had one daughter; her husband died when their daughter was eighteen months old. As of this interview, she had two grandchildren. She had a long career in nursing.

On Education:

“I think just living was a challenge. My parents both were children of the Depression, so there was that challenge right there. I think being Black was a challenge, although not as much in my mind as a child. It was when I grew up that it was a challenge. Just getting through, getting through college was a challenge. Every day is a challenge.”

Publication Date

3-31-2001

Publisher

University of Southern Maine African American Collection

City

Portland

Disciplines

African American Studies | American Studies | Cultural History | Digital Humanities | Education | Genealogy | Higher Education | History | Labor History | Oral History | Other American Studies | Other Education | Other History | Public History | Race, Ethnicity and Post-Colonial Studies | United States History | Women's History

Recommended Citation

Saric, Vanessa, "Ms. Beverly Bowens on Education" (2001). Quotes. 13.
https://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/we5quotes/13