Women’s History Month 2022

For March 2022, we are highlighting women’s history projects and stories that the EWHP is connected to – both new and old. We are starting the month with the projects of our summer 2021 interns – and the story of International Women’s Day and the Evanston connection.

In Summer 2021, intern Sophia Weglarz wrote a series of blog posts about Black women’s history in Evanston. She began with Evanston’s earliest Black resident in the 1850s and ended with the story of Black Women’s Clubs and their work for civil rights in the 1950s. You can find her three posts here:

• The Incredible Life of Maria Murray Robinson, Evanston’s First Black Resident

• Friends In Unlikely Places: How A “Southern white woman and young Negro man” Changed Evanston Politics

• Piecing History Together: the story of the Mathilda Dunbar Club

Intern Lauren Dain spent the summer of 2021 exploring Evanston parks named for women and creating a map on the Clio website for walking, bike and auto tours. You can find her tour on the Clio app (it works best on a mobile phone). You can find her story about her summer project and a pdf of the map here:

• Evanston Parks Highlight the Legacies of Influential Women

International Women’s Day falls on Tuesday, March 8th in 2022. Evanston has an interesting connection to the day and the story of this connection and of May Wood Simons can be found here:

• May Wood Simons and International Women’s Day

We encourage you to explore women’s history wherever you are! Here are some additional ideas:

• Join us for our Under the Buffalo program on Tuesday, March 8th – International Women’s Day – “Standing Together: Inez Milholland’s Final Campaign for Women’s Suffrage.” A Virtual Presentation by Jeanine Michna-Bales at 7 pm – more information and registration is here.
• Explore the Evanston women’s suffrage story in our online exhibit – Evanston Women and the Fight for the Vote
• Visit Clio for our tour through Evanston Parks named for women
• Visit our partner the Frances Willard House Museum for a tour of this remarkable women’s history site – go here for more on Willard and tours of the house
• Attend a program at the Willard House – upcoming programs include March 13th Handicraft Hour and March 27th Views on Woman’s Suffrage talk
• Join us for History and Sew On – a group dedicated to handicrafts and history – on Monday, March 28th at 3 pm – more information here
• Find us on social media where both the Evanston History Center and the Evanston Women’s History Project share women’s stories

Stay tuned for more women’s history throughout March!