Career
Bowles joined the Marine Corps in 1939, was trained as a bugler, and served during World World War II and the Korean War as a corporal. He was discharged from active duty in 1951. In May 1954, the United States. Supreme Court ruled that racially segregated public schools were unconstitutional.
Bowles raised $6,000 and founded the National Association for the Advancement of White People to oppose the ruling.
During the latter half of 1954, Bowles held rallies and gave speeches in several different states. The ensuing unrest, which included cross burnings, contributed to desegregation in some parts of Delaware being delayed for another ten years.
Charged for making inflammatory statements, Bowles was tried in 1955 in Dover before Judge Charles Sudler Richards. After brief deliberation the jury found Bowles not guilty.
In 1958, while living near Beaumont, Texas, Bowles shot and killed his brother-in-law following a family argument.
According to Texas Department of Criminal Justice records, he was sentenced to a life term for premeditated murder but was paroled in March 1973. In 1994 Bowles returned to prison in Texas for a year for having violated the terms of his parole. Bowles died at age 77 of congestive heart failure in Tampa, two years after gaining parole a second time.
He was buried in Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell, Florida.
