Engaging Underprivileged Youth in the Nation's Capital
The Officer Oliver Cowan Story
Engaging Underprivileged Youth in the Nation's Capital
The Officer Oliver Cowan Story
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Description
In 1942, with urban youth violence on the rise, District of Columbia Metropolitan Police rookie Oliver A. Cowan proposed a novel solution: a youth engagement program called the “Junior Police Corps.”
At the time, Washington, D.C., was governed by a Congress dominated by segregationists, and most Black residents of the nation's capital lived under the constraints of Jim Crow–era discrimination. Despite these barriers, Officer Cowan created an integrated program that harnessed the talents and energy of local youth while drawing support from civic-minded citizens, community organizations, business leaders, athletes, and entertainers who volunteered their time and resources.
Assigned to one of the city's most impoverished precincts, Cowan accomplished what many thought impossible: he persuaded leaders of some of the area's most notorious youth gangs to help build a program focused on recreation, citizenship, and personal development. As juvenile crime rates declined, Cowan's program was adopted throughout the city.
Martin Alan Greenberg chronicles Cowan's story and traces the evolution of youth engagement programs from the Progressive Era through the end of the twentieth century while also exploring broader themes of civil rights, juvenile justice, and the major social and political events that shaped the century.
Table of Contents
Foreword
Preface
Part I
Chapter 1 Introduction: Officer Cowan and the World of Juvenile Justice
Chapter 2 A Brief History of Washington, DC
Chapter 3 Junior Police and Youth Crime Prevention
Chapter 4 Life in Washington, DC: The Depression Years
Part II
Chapter 5 Cowan's Plan: The Junior Police and Citizens Corps
Chapter 6 Initiation of the Corps: 1942-1949
Chapter 7 Consolidation of the Corps: 1950-1959
Chapter 8 Transformation of the Corps: 1960-1965
Chapter 9 Last Decades of the Corps: 1966-1990s
Chapter 10 Community Engagement and the Legacy of Officer Cowan
Appendix A Commentary About Junior Police (1947)
Appendix B NYPD's PAL Program
Appendix C President's Executive Order No. 7732 (1938)
Appendix D Report by the DC Council of Social Agencies (1946)
Appendix E Proclamation on the Prevention and Control of Juvenile Delinquency (1948)
Appendix F Members of the Advisory Board for Trustees of the Junior Police and Citizens Corps, Inc. (1952)
Notes
References
Index
About the Author
Product details
| Published | Dec 10 2026 |
|---|---|
| Format | Hardback |
| Edition | 1st |
| Pages | 424 |
| ISBN | 9781666973433 |
| Imprint | Bloomsbury Academic |
| Illustrations | 41 images |
| Dimensions | 9 x 6 inches |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
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