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	evanston women's history project

•	evanston women's history project biographies

Samples of Project Biographies

“Evanston is remarkable in nothing if not for the ability, individuality, and enterprise of its women.” -- Frances Willard

Frances Elizabeth Willard (1839-1898)

Courtesy of the Frances E. Willard Memorial Library and Archives

Arguably Evanston’s most famous female citizen, Frances Elizabeth Willard originally came to Evanston with her family to study at Northwestern Female College in 1858. Devoted to education throughout her life, Willard served as president of the Evanston Ladies College, and when it merged with Northwestern University in 1873, she became the first Dean of Women at Northwestern. Willard came to prominence when she was elected president of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) in 1879. Under her leadership, the WCTU grew to be the largest organization of women in the United States. With the motto “Do Everything,” Willard was also a staunch suffragist, fought for women’s economic rights, and in her later days sympathized with the labor movement. She founded the World’s WCTU to give women around the world greater opportunities for public leadership. Her skills as a compelling public speaking kept her, and the issues she championed, in the national spotlight until her death in 1898. She was the first woman to be honored with a statue in the U.S. Capitol.

Elizabeth Boynton Harbert (1843-1925)

From the Records of the Woman's Club of Evanston, Northwestern University Archives

Author, social reformer, and suffragist Elizabeth Boynton Harbert was ahead of her time. Arguing for better representation for women in the church, she was drawn to the Women’s Christian Temperance Union from its earliest days. As one of the founding members of the Woman’s Club of Evanston, Harbert helped to establish many services and organizations in the city such as the Evanston Hospital and the Association of Evanston Charities. She served as president of the Illinois Woman Suffrage Association for twelve years where, through her publications such the New Era newspaper, she made the movement more accessible to the middle class. Having seen the passage of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution granting women the right to vote, in her final years Harbert refocused her reform efforts to address human rights issues in general.

Catherine Waugh McCulloch (1862-1945)

Courtesy of the Northwestern University Archives

Unwilling to let her sex prohibit her from her ambitions, Catherine Waugh McCulloch triumphed in nearly every endeavor that she undertook. Lawyer, activist, and suffragist, McCulloch was on the front lines drawing attention to many of the leading issues of her day. In 1907 she became the first female Justice of Peace in Evanston, and was one of the first in the country. Deeply concerned with the family and women’s role within it, McCulloch helped push the age of consent in Illinois from fourteen to sixteen years of age and lobbied for passage of a bill that granted wives, along with their husbands, equal guardianship over their children. Nearly thirty years preceding women’s suffrage in America, McCulloch drafted legislation that gave women in Illinois the right to vote for school board officials, a small step but a large gesture that may have warmed the greater community to the idea of universal suffrage.

Isabella Garnett (1872-1948)

Courtesy of the Evanston History Center

As a member of one of the first African American families to reside in Evanston, Isabella Garnett was destined to be a trailblazer. One of the first African American female physicians in the state of Illinois, in 1914 Garnett co-founded the Evanston Sanitarium and Training School. This hospital served the growing African American population in the increasingly segregated city who, prior to the creation of the Evanston Sanitarium, were forced to seek medical assistance at hospitals far from Evanston on the south or west sides of Chicago. Garnett managed the hospital until 1930 when it moved locations. Throughout her lifetime, she remained committed to both health and public service and was a member of many organizations such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Iroquois League (an organization that provided homes for working African American women), and the Community Chest.

Lorraine Morton

Courtesy of the Evanston History Center

Public servant extraordinaire, Lorraine Morton began her illustrious career as a school teacher. She received her Master’s Degree in Education from Northwestern University in 1941. When she returned to the city in 1953, the schools were segregated and she took a position at Foster School, a segregated K-8 school. Quickly thereafter, however, she found herself challenging segregation. She was the first African American teacher at Nichols Middle School and the first African American president of the Junior High School Association. Her success led her to become an advisor to other school districts around the nation who were attempting desegregation. In 1977, she became principal of Haven Middle School, a post she held for twelve years. While principal at Haven, Morton was appointed alderman of the Fifth Ward and served nine years. In 1993, she unified a diverse electorate to become the first African American, the first Democrat, and the second female mayor in the city of Evanston, a post that she held until her retirement in 2009.

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