COWEN, PHILIP

COWEN, PHILIP (1853–1943), U.S. publisher and author. Cowen was born in New York City, the son of German immigrants. He entered the printing business in 1878, and the following year, in cooperation with a group of distinguished New York Jews, founded the Anglo-Jewish weekly the american hebrew . As its editor and publisher for 27 years, Cowen participated actively in the major issues and campaigns arising during the era of Jewish mass immigration. He was instrumental in publishing the works of such figures as oscar s. straus , max j. kohler , Henry Pereira mendes , emma lazarus , mary antin , and Alexander kohut . From 1905 to 1927 Cowen served as an official of the U.S. Immigration Service at Ellis Island and in 1906 went to Russia on a special mission to report on the causes of immigration from Eastern Europe, with emphasis on Jewish problems. His book Memories of an American Jew was published in 1932. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: New York Times (April 21, 1943). (Morton Rosenstock)