Misty Watson
Dalton Daily Citizen
DALTON — Charlie Bowen wasn’t “impressed” with Dalton the first time he visited. He didn’t have plans to make Dalton his permanent home.
But he’s called Dalton home for 70 years now — with the exception of a three-year stint in the Navy during World War II.
Bowen, 96, a former Dalton High principal and superintendent for Dalton Public Schools, shared his life story during a meeting of the Whitfield-Murray Historical Society on Sunday.
“Lots of bedspreads around,” said Bowen, recalling his first visit to Dalton in the late 1930s to help a friend move to the area. “The (high school) football field had one strand of barbed wire fence around it with wooden bleachers that would seat about 300 people... To tell you the truth, I wasn’t too impressed.”
Bowen was born in Austell in 1913, but soon moved with his family to Gainesville. His father, Urben, taught math and Latin and was a principal of schools in Austell and Gainesville before buying a farm in Sumter County in 1924.
“On the farm, I had some awfully good experiences — milked cows, picked cotton,” Bowen said. “I enjoyed those years. I think they really helped me to set a foundation that I had to be tough... That was just the beginning of the Great Depression. The Great Depression lasted a good long while, more than I hope this one is going to. It carried on into the early ’40s.”
Bowen obtained a bachelor’s degree from the University of Georgia in 1934. He said his first year at the school cost $317. Books were approximately $5 apiece.
“I graduated in 1934,” he said. “It was as hard to find a job then as it is now.”
Bowen worked at a few schools in south Georgia teaching math and Latin and as principal. While at Fitzgerald High School Bowen worked with Walter Stancil. Stancil became superintendent of the Dalton school system in 1937.
“It was because of him I came to Dalton,” Bowen said.
In 1940, Stancil asked Bowen to interview for the position of Dalton High School’s principal.
“On that visit, I met lots of people,” Bowen said.
Meeting the residents of Dalton is what changed Bowen’s first impression of the area, he said.
“Some of the greatest people I’ve ever met are here,” he said.
Though Bowen was hired as principal of Dalton High School, Stancil gave the position to another person, Bowen said. Stancil said he wanted Bowen to be principal at Dalton Junior High instead.
“I said, ‘Mr. Stancil, I don’t know much about Dalton, but I know you. I’m here under your supervision and will work wherever you want me,’” Bowen said.
Bowen remained as principal of Dalton Junior High until joining the Navy during World War II. He taught celestial navigation. He was gone for three years before being asked to return to be principal at Dalton High.
“I planned to stay two or three years and move on,” Bowen said. But he never left.
Bowen served as Dalton High’s principal until 1969 when he became the assistant superintendent. In 1970, Bowen was named the system’s superintendent. He retired in 1975.
Former students and teachers say they are lucky to have learned and worked under Bowen.
“I was lucky enough to have Mr. Bowen as a principal while a student and a teacher,” said Mary Manly Ryman, who is a 1944 graduate of Dalton High School. “He had a lot of vitality. He was interested in all the students. He was always considerate.”
Other former students echoed Bowen’s interest in his students.
“I remember him being personally interested in every single student,” said Ellen Thompson, president of the historical society and principal of Varnell Elementary School. “He knew your name. My whole life, every time I’ve run into him, he’s asked about me. He’s a very special man.”
