Chandler
Owen
joined with Philip Randolph to establish
The Messenger in August, 1917.
A member of the Socialist Party, Owen,
along with Randolph, were known in Harlem as Lenin and Trotsky.
Owen moved to Chicago where he became managing editor of the Chicago
Bee. He later established his own public relations company. He
remained interested in politics and wrote speeches for Wendell
Willkie, Thomas Dewey, Dwight
Eisenhower and Lyndon Baines Johnson.
In later life Owen suffered from a kidney complaint. In a letter that
he wrote to Philip Randolph in October,
1967, "Our long friendship, never soiled, is nearing its close.
I've been in pain. If you were not living. I would commit suicide
today." Chandler Owen died in early November.
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