Frances Willard House Museum & Archives
Frances Willard; visionary feminist, political activist & social justice reformer
By Cate LiaBraaten, Museum Operations Manager Suffrage, or the right to vote and hold office in political elections, is foundational to democratic societies. 2020 marks the centennial of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which states that the right to vote shall not be denied on the basis of sex. The 19th Amendment was passed […]
By Fiona Maxwell, University of Chicago Graduate Global Impact Intern Frances Willard’s prominence as an activist, orator, writer, and educator has tended to overshadow many of the other remarkable woman leaders active in the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union during the late nineteenth century–including Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, the National “superintendent for work among the colored […]
By Glen Madeja, Head Gardener The renovated gardens have progressed tremendously so far this year. Based on research done by landscape historian Barbara Geiger funded by a grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, a work plan had been laid out for the entire property, focused on the gardens surrounding Willard House. Over the […]
By Fiona Maxwell, University of Chicago Graduate Global Impact Intern This is the third installment of a series of blog posts highlighting a small sample of the printed performance materials housed in the WCTU Archives. Although the Museum and Archives are closed to visitors due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are committed to providing digital […]
By Fiona Maxwell, University of Chicago Graduate Global Impact Intern This is the second installment of a series of blog posts highlighting a small sample of the printed performance materials housed in the WCTU Archives. Although the Museum and Archives are closed to visitors due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are committed to providing digital […]
Normally, this time of year would see the Frances Willard House Museum bustling and busy. March is Women’s History Month – one of our busiest tour months – and we’d be in the midst of planning for the summer season, with new interns and their projects, and event and program plans in full swing. This […]
By Fiona Maxwell, University of Chicago Graduate Global Impact Intern This is the first installment of a series of blog posts highlighting a small sample of the printed performance materials housed in the WCTU Archives. Although the Museum and Archives are closed to visitors due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are committed to providing digital […]
By Hannah Overstreet, 2019 Summer Intern This month marks a century since the enactment of the Eighteenth Amendment, better known as Prohibition. For more than thirteen years, the United States banned alcohol, making it illegal to make, transport, or sell “intoxicating liquors” of all kinds. If you live in Chicago and pay any attention to […]
By Fiona Maxwell, UChicago Grad Global Impact Intern In November 1871, the Evanston College for Ladies threw open its parlor for a Thanksgiving “sociable.” The College’s President Frances Willard displayed “pains-taking care” in her preparations in order that all of the guests enjoyed “themselves to the fullest extent.” After the formalities of “introduction and conversation,” […]
Before the Pure Food and Drug Act, the United States (as well as the rest of the world) was riddled with problems regarding the safety of food and drink. Over a hundred years have gone by since the passing of the act in 1906, and times when a glass of milk could cause disease and […]