You might be wondering about our new heading — who the women are and where we got the title “Lifting as We Climb.” Our next few posts will tell you more about the women pictured, but first we’d like to tell you about the title.
“Lifting as We Climb” is the title of our new women’s history exhibit which will open at the Evanston History Center on March 19, 2010. Stay tuned for more on that event and the many others coming up in the next few months. The reason we chose it is that it was the motto of an important Evanston women’s organization and it perfectly describes the efforts of the many women and women’s organizations that we’ve encountered in this project. They all have this in common: while they are climbing to new levels in their own lives, they are also lifting others and the community that surrounds them.
This is especially true of the Iroquois League, from whom we are borrowing the title. The Iroquois League was organized to offer support to the many young, single African-American women who were working in Evanston. The organization was formed in 1917 and its house at 1125 Garnett Place functioned both as a boarding house and social center for these young women, and also offered worship services and bible classes. In 1926, Cora Watson was elected president and the League began to grow, eventually changing its name to the North Shore Community House. Watson was active in the League for the rest of her life. For a number of years, the motto of the League was “Lifting as We Climb” — it was also the motto of the National Association of Colored Women.
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Frances E. Willard, ca. 1892
There’s a new exhibit that focuses on Frances Willard open at Northwestern University Library from now through March 18. Arguably one of the most famous and influential Evanstonians in the 19th century, Willard left her mark on this community and the world.
Here’s the link for more information: http://www.library.northwestern.edu/news/archives/003837.html
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We are now entering our third year of work on the Evanston Women’s History Project and are set to go public with the results of all our research. Spring 2010 will find us updating this web site to include a lot more information about the project and the women and women’s organizations we’ve learned so much about. We will also be unveiling a new women’s history exhibit at the Evanston History Center and new public progams including a bus tour, walking tours and lectures. Stay tuned and check back here to learn more!
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The Evanston Women’s History Project offices are moving to the Evanston History Center (EHC). No doubt the move will help facilitate research as many of the Project’s research subjects have archival and/or clipping files at the EHC.
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As we dig deeper and deeper into the lives of the women of Evanston, it’s clear that we need to expand our vision. Women have left their marks on Evanston’s history in a variety of ways. One of those ways is through the various organizations, churches, businesses, activities, etc., that they helped to create.
The EWHP is looking for information on these various organizations and their relationship to the women of Evanston.
If you believe your organization has been important to the history of women in Evanston, please contact The Evanston Women’s History Project at ewhp@sbcglobal.net.
We want to make sure that we get the ENTIRE women’s history story in Evanston.
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Although the cold seems to have slowed most people down these past few weeks, momentum at the EWHP has never been higher.
In addition to organizing all that valuable information that we’ve been gathering for over year now, our initial survey of historic properties associated with Evanston women of note is finishing up AND we are working behind the scenes trying to get our database cleaned up and hopefully up and running soon.
A big thank you to everyone involved in the Project! It’s coming along…
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November 10, 2008 by lawilliams
Miss Ida Faye Wright served as Chief Librarian of the Evanston Public Library from January 1920 until November 1, 1944. The Evanston City Council adopted a resolution entitled “Resolution Upon the Occasion of the Retirement of Miss Ida Faye Wright” on October 2, 1944.
Miss Wright moved to Evanston at the age of three and began her career at the Evanston Public Library while still a student at Evanston High School. Before becoming director of the Evanston Public Library, she was the children’s librarian and later she was assistant librarian of the Lincoln Library in Springfield. She retired in 1944 and worked at the Illinois State Library until she entered the Mather Home in 1958. Miss Wright died December 17, 1974 in the Mather Home at the age of 94.
The Evanston Public Library has digitized items from its local history clipping file on Miss Ida Faye Wright.
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The EWHP has moved into another research phase! Though research on “women of note” will continue indefinitely, some researchers have started to shift their focus to properties associated with these significant women.
In order to list a property (or in this case, a district) on The National Register of Historic Places, one has to carefully research the residence/structure/property. Among other things, this process involves a detailed survey of the property.
On Tuesday, EWHP volunteers met to discuss our upcoming survey of these structures. We also divvied out a few structures to interested volunteers. We’ll meet again in a few weeks to discuss our work and to parcel out additional properties.
This is definitely an exciting time for all involved! If you are interested in volunteering, email us at ewhp@sbcglobal.net
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Alice Bunker Stockham
Doctor, author, publisher, and sexual reformer Alice Bunker Stockham led the way in many important causes of her day. Stockham came to Evanston in 1890. As a doctor who specialized in pediatrics, Stockham came to realize that her work was very connected to family planning. As such, she published and publicized these materials through a variety of means, including using the US postal service to send out these pamphlets. In 1905, at the heyday of the Comstock reform measures, and at the age of 72, she was charged with sending sexually explicit material through the mail. Clarence Darrow, the famed attorney, represented her but she was found guilty. She was fined and her books banned. Defeated and exhausted, she moved to California to live out the rest of her days in peace and quiet. Eventually, Evanston renamed Stockham Place, Burnham Place.
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