Chester Harvey Rowell

Who was Chester Harvey Rowell?

Chester Harvey Rowell was an early leader of the progressive movement in California.

Born in Bloomington, Illinois, he earned a degree from the University of Michigan in 1888. He studied three years in Europe, including terms at the Universities of Halle, Berlin, Paris and Rome. In 1898 he became the editor and manager of the Fresno Morning Republican, the newspaper founded by his uncle Dr. Chester Rowell. He remained as editor for 22 years.

In 1907, he was the co-founder and chairman of the Lincoln-Roosevelt League, a coalition of progressive Republican activists. The league was instrumental in the election of Hiram Johnson as governor of California. In 1912, Rowell was a member of the sub-committee that wrote the national platforms for both the Republican and Progressive parties.

Later, Rowell was a lecturer in journalism at the University of California, Berkeley and in political science at Stanford University. He was editor of the San Francisco Chronicle. He was a member of the University of California Board of Regents from 1914 until shortly before his death in 1948.