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Happy 75th birthday to the Frances E. Willard Memorial Library and Archives. Founded to honor Frances Willard’s 100th birthday, this institution continues to be a major resource for telling the story of her life and the work of the many women involved in the temperance movement and the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union. Evanston is lucky

Two new exhibits are up at local museums and both look to have great women’s history stories included — At LUMA, Loyola University of Chicago’s art museum, Crossings and Dwellings: Restored Jesuits, Women Religious, American Experience, 1814-2014, is on display through October 16, 2014. Using historical maps, books, objects, and textiles, Crossings and Dwellings tells the story of

Hope you can join the EWHP for a full weekend of events to culminate the yearlong celebration of Frances Willard’s 175th birthday. On Saturday September 27th, Frances Meets the Future will take place from 10 am to 3 pm at the Woman’s Club of Evanston. This daylong event will begin with morning presentations by historians

Explore the revolutionary history of Evanston’s women by viewing the houses and buildings where they worked to transform our cultural landscape. Cost: $20/$15 for Evanston History Center members. When: August 2, 11 a.m. -12:30 p.m. Where: All tours begin at the Evanston History Center, 225 Greenwood Street. Reservations are not needed but they are encouraged via email –ewhp@evanstonhistorycenter.org.

This wonderful documentary about Frances Willard and her work empowering women and girls was created by a Sonia Wanberg, a Junior High student in Chicago, and was a finalist in the National History Day Junior Division. Frances Willard: A Champion for Girls from So Wan on Vimeo.  

By Kris Hartzell, Director of Facilities and Visitor Services, Evanston History Center Bertha Yerex was the first woman to graduate from the College of Architecture and Design at the University of Michigan.  According to Bertha, when she applied in 1914, the Dean of the college told her that as a woman she was not welcome