Catherine Drinker Bowen
Bethlehem, Northampton County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
Author & historian. Her works include books on Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. ("Yankee from Olympus"), Sir Edward Coke ("Lion and the Throne"), & the U.S. Constitution ("Miracle at Philadelphia"). She lived here during her father's university presidency, 1905-1920.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
Catherine Drinker Bowen grew up in this Bethlehem home while her father served as a university president in the early twentieth century, absorbing a world of ideas that shaped her career. She became one of America's most admired biographers and historians, bringing figures like Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. and Sir Edward Coke vividly to life, and celebrating the drama of the Constitutional Convention in "Miracle at Philadelphia." Her narrative gift made scholarly history accessible to a wide reading public.
Why it matters
Bowen helped Americans connect with their legal and constitutional heritage through history written with the pace and warmth of storytelling.
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Related people
- · Catherine Drinker Bowen
Themes & tags
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