Laura Bowman

File:Pete Hampton and Laura Bowman, 1906.jpg]]

Laura Bowman (October 3, 1881 – March 29, 1957) was an American stage, radio, and film actress.Tanner, Jo A. "[http://www.fofweb.com/History/HistRefMain.asp?iPin=AFEBW0747&SID=2&DatabaseName=African-American+History+Online&InputText=%22Laura+Bowman%22&SearchStyle=&dTitle=Bowman%2C+Laura&TabRecordType=All+Records&BioCountPass=1&SubCountPass=1&DocCountPass=0&ImgCountPass=0&MapCountPass=0&FedCountPass=&MedCountPass=0&NewsCountPass=0&RecPosition=1&AmericanData=&WomenData=&AFHCData=Set&IndianData=&WorldData=&AncientData=&GovernmentData= "Bowman, Laura"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170510112508/http://www.fofweb.com/History/HistRefMain.asp?iPin=AFEBW0747&SID=2&DatabaseName=African-American+History+Online&InputText=%22Laura+Bowman%22&SearchStyle=&dTitle=Bowman%2C+Laura&TabRecordType=All+Records&BioCountPass=1&SubCountPass=1&DocCountPass=0&ImgCountPass=0&MapCountPass=0&FedCountPass=&MedCountPass=0&NewsCountPass=0&RecPosition=1&AmericanData=&WomenData=&AFHCData=Set&IndianData=&WorldData=&AncientData=&GovernmentData= |date=2017-05-10 }}. In Hine, Darlene Clark, ed. Black Women in America: Theater Arts and Entertainment, Encyclopedia of Black Women in America. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 1997. African-American History Online. Facts On File, Inc.

Early life and stage career

Bowman was born in Quincy, Illinois, and grew up in Cincinnati. She performed in In Dahomey in London with her common-law husband, Pete Hampton, in the early 1900s.{{cite book|last1=Bourne|first1=Stephen|authorlink=Stephen Bourne (writer)|title=Black in the British Frame: The Black Experience in British Film and Television|date=2001|publisher=Continuum|location=London|page=7|isbn=9780826478986|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YYaryaqLfd4C|accessdate=13 October 2014}} She joined the Lafayette Players, a Harlem acting troupe, in 1916 and worked with them on and off for several years.