How Evanston Women Have Wielded the Power of Theatre

Evanston Women, Women in Theatre, Women's History /

By Sarah Barton, PhD Candidate for the Evanston Women’s History Project, March 2026 Evanston is known for many things, Northwestern University, the WCTU national headquarters, it’s beautiful parks and beaches, but less is known about it’s massive impact on theatre education, Hollywood actors, comedy, children’s theatre, national education standards, and theatre writ large in the […]

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In the Footsteps of Alice Bunker Stockham

Evanston Women, Project Information, Women of Note, Women's History /

By Serena Covkin, PhD for the Evanston Women’s History Project, March 2025 Alice Bunker Stockham was a popular physician, a pioneering social reformer, a world-traveling educator, and Evanston’s first certified tokologist. She assumed the role in 1883, when she reworked the Greek word for “birth” into the title of her first medical advice manual, Tokology:

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Evanston, Chautauqua, and the Summer of ’74

Temperance, Women's Education, Women's History /

Part 3 of a series / By Janet Olson, CWHL Archivist We refer to 1874, of course—a time of change, endings and beginnings, for Frances Willard and the temperance movement in Evanston. Willard Leaves NU Willard’s resignation from Northwestern came after a year of difficulties.[1] In June, 1873, when the Evanston College for Ladies (with

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Premiere of New Documentary: Discovering Catharine

Evanston Women, Programs and Events /

The McCulloch family, in collaboration with Evanston filmmaker Susan Hope Engel of Hope Productions and Dean Bushala of Red Branch Productions Ltd., is proud to announce the premiere of Discovering Catharine. This one-hour documentary explores the life and legacy of Evanston suffragist Catharine Waugh McCulloch (1862 – 1945), an early female attorney and a fervent

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Recent Projects in Evanston Women’s History

Women's Vote 100, Women's History /

Two recent online projects share some fascinating Evanston women’s history. We share them with you. Enjoy! The Women’s Suffrage Movement in Illinois and Evanston Her March to Democracy: Stories Along the National Votes for Women Trail is a new podcast that includes an episode focusing on Illinois and the women’s suffrage movement. Evanston Women’s History

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“What is the use of a temperance society in Evanston, where the sale of liquor is already prohibited?”

Women of Note, Women's History /

By Janet Olson, The Center for Women’s History and Leadership Speaking at a Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) meeting in Evanston in 1883, Mrs. Jennette Hauser posed the title question. It was a logical question—after all, Evanston had been dry since 1855, thanks to Northwestern University’s charter, which stated that no alcohol could be sold

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