The Women’s L Project is the brain child of Janet Volk, a Chicago woman fascinated by local history, and Jessika Savage, a local graphic designer. To discover the Evanston women included on the Purple Line stops that run through town – visit this page – https://www.womenslproject.com/pages/purple-line From the project’s website: The Women’s L Project honors […]
This virtual presentation by Scott Mehaffey, Executive Director at Edith Farnsworth House National Historic Site in Plano, Illinois, took place on April 5, 2022. Mehaffey discussed the history and current status of the renowned International Style house. The historical house was commissioned by Dr. Edith Farnsworth, a prominent Chicago medical doctor, musician, and poet. The house, a one-room weekend
The League of Women Voters of Evanston held its first meeting on March 28, 1922 – 100 years ago. The National League of Women Voters was founded on February 14, 1920 (in Chicago) and the 19th amendment was ratified on August 26, 1920. Why did it take two years for the Evanston league to form?
Happy 100th Anniversary to the League of Women Voters of Evanston! Read More »
Evanston women were active in war efforts from the earliest days of the community. During the American Civil War, Evanston women supported the Union war effort through their churches and the sanitary fairs that raised funds to support Union troops. Jane Blaikie Hoge was a key organizer for the U.S. Sanitary Commission, along with her
Evanston Women in the Military Read More »
March 8th is International Women’s Day! Long celebrated globally, it has gained visibility in the U.S. in recent years. Evanston has an interesting historical connection to IWD – one of its founders called Evanston home and Evanston actually celebrated the day in its early years. More of that story can be found here. This year,
Happy International Women’s Day! Read More »
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
Women’s History Month 2022 Read More »
On International Women’s Day 2022 – Tuesday, March 8th – the Evanston History Center and the Evanston Women’s History Project will present a virtual presentation by Jeanine Michna-Bales who will discuss her multifaceted meditation on a pioneer of American suffrage: Standing Together: Inez Milholland’s Final Campaign for Women’s Suffrage. Since 2016, Michna-Bales has been researching the Suffrage chapter
Standing Together: Inez Milholland’s Final Campaign for Suffrage Read More »
The Chicago Womxn’s Suffrage Tribute Committee, in conjunction with the Wabash Arts Corridor (WAC) at Columbia College Chicago, is pleased to announce the completion of a new mural celebrating women and the work of local activists in obtaining the right to vote and the modern struggle for equality. On the Wings of Change, created by
By Sophia Weglarz, EWHP 2021 Summer Intern In my previous blog post, I discussed the 1932 alliance between Evanston’s first Black alderman, Edwin Jourdain, and the first female alderwoman, Daisy Sandidge, when Sandidge ran for Jourdain’s unexpired term at his behest after he was removed for supposed election fraud. Earlier this summer, I wrote about
Piecing History Together: the story of the Mathilda Dunbar Club Read More »
By Sophia Weglarz, EWHP Summer 2021 Intern “A Southern white woman and a young Negro man cooperating in politics against crookedness and against two cheap white male politicians, and being supported by all the blacks and all the most intelligent and influential whites of their ward! Ye gods! What is this country coming to?”[i] This
