This collection is comprised of campaign posters from Bowles' mayoral campaigns.
Charles Bowles was born in Yale, Michigan on March 24, 1884 to parents Alfred and Mary Lutz Bowles. He graduated from the University of Michigan with a law degree in 1908 and was admitted to the bar in 1909. In 1915, he married Ruth Davis. The couple had one daughter, Helen Ruth Bowles.
In 1925, Bowles ran for the mayor of Detroit after the resignation of Frank Ellsworth Doremus. During this election he was openly supported by the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). He was third in the primary election, which eliminated him from the general election ballot. However, he continued his campaign as a write-in candidate, and lost only after 15,000 ballots were disqualified. He ran for mayor again the next year, but was unsuccessful. After losing this election, he obtained a position as judge on the recorder's court. He was re-elected to this position, but resigned in 1929 to run for mayor once more.
Bowles defeated John C. Lodge in the primary, and John W. Smith in the general election to win the mayoral election. Although Bowles had run a platform of anti-crime, his firing of Police Commissioner Harold Emmons caused Detroit citizens, including well-known radio announcer Jerry Buckley, to accuse him of tolerating lawlessness. He was recalled six months after he had entered office.
Bowles ran again for mayor a month later, but lost to Frank Murphy. Later in his life, he unsuccessfully ran for the Michigan State House and the U.S. house. Bowles died on July 30, 1957.
