Cora Lee Watson co-founded the North Shore Community House, formerly known as the Iroquois League. The organization provided support for African American working girls who worked in Evanston. It offered housing and educational programs, and served as a community center as well. Watson served as President from 1926-1931 and again for a time beginning in 1951.
Significance: Cora Lee Watson was born in South Carolina in 1875. She married her husband Moses in October 1897 and the pair lived in rural South Carolina before moving up north. They moved to Evanston in 1914, residing at 1112 Garnett Place. In 1917, she became a charter member of the Iroquois League, an organization “for the purpose of providing a safe, supervised and economical home for Negro working girls.”
She was one of the early members of the Ebenezer AME Church, and was a full participant in many of their activities. Notably, she served as president of the Ebenezer Missionary Society for 12 years and later as Vice President of the Evanston Missionary Union, encompassing all the Protestant churches in Evanston.
Watson was elected President of the Iroquois League in 1926, as the Iroquois League was facing foreclosure on their house at 1125 Garnett Place. She helped the organization pay off the mortgage, and remained president until 1931. Her tenure as president also marked a period of revitalization, as new members joined and fundraising took off. She was elected president of the Iroquois League again in 1951.
She was well-known and respected for her dedication to the community, and a top fund raiser for charities within the Chicagoland area, being crowned queen of the Chicago Conference Missionary Society. When Cora Watson passed away on October 19, 1982, she was believed to be the oldest living resident of Evanston at 107 years old.
*Her obituary lists 1875 as her birth year, however different census and educational records offer other years leaving the date of her birth contested.
Updated by Brenna Large for the Evanston Women’s History Project.