The Evanston Women’s History Project is excited to unveil a new web resource that will highlight the contributions Evanston women and organizations made to making the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, removing gender restrictions on voting, possible. People today associate this accomplishment with well-known figures like Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, but there …
Evanston Women and the 19th – A New Web Resource Read More »
100 years ago in June 1913, Illinois women won the right to vote. The story of the battle for suffrage in Illinois is important for several reasons: Illinois was the first state east of the Mississippi to expand the vote to women; Illinois was a more populous state than any previous state to give women …
100 Years of Illinois Women Voting: Evanston Celebrates! Read More »
2013 brings the 100th anniversary of two important women’s history moments – one with a national interest, one with a particular interest in Evanston and Illinois. In March of 2013, the nation will mark the anniversary of the 1913 Washington D.C. suffrage parade. The crowd response to this parade, turning a peaceful march into a …
A new blog post on the Evanston History Center blog highlights the upcoming 100th anniversary of the Woman’s Club of Evanston’s clubhouse in 2013. The WCE has since its founding in 1889 made a huge contribution to the community, and part of the reason its has endured is because of the place it holds within …
This year marks the 100th Anniversary of International Women’s Day and this moment has a surprising Evanston connection in May Wood Simons. Simons and her husband, Algie, were Evanston residents for many years and were active in the early years of the Socialist Party in America. Simons wrote for and edited several socialist publications, including …
Visit the Evanston History Center research room to see a new small exhibit that tells the story of Evanston women who served in WWI and WWII. The exhibit was curated by our Fall intern, Hannah Van Loon. It covers several stories of Evanston women in the wars. Here is just a highlight… Mary Glenn (1892-1972) …
August 26, 2010 marks the 90th anniversary of women achieving the right to vote in national elections! Evanston women played a key role in making this happen in the years preceeding the passage of the 19th amendment to the constitution in 1920. Elizabeth Harbert was connected to the national suffrage movement through her friendship with …
This little news article is from the May 4, 1895 Evanston Index. It is hard to tell if it is meant to be comical or critical, but it certainly reveals the late 19th century debate over the changing role of women in society. By 1895 Evanston women had the right to vote for school board …
The Women’s Land Army of America was formed during WWI to give women a way to help and farmers the workers they needed. Organized on a local, state and national level, it was self-funded as the women were paid by the farmers they worked for. The Land Army explicitly tried to mix the educational and …
As early as 1876, Evanston was home to the Pro and Con Club, organized by Elizabeth Boynton Harbert (1843-1925), author and suffrage activist, for the purpose of discussing women’s suffrage. Harbert had participated in the founding of the American Woman’s Suffrage Association and was a close associate of Susan B. Anthony. She wrote the “Woman’s Kingdom” column …
