By Janet Olson, CWHL Archivist. [Part three of a series] We mean 1874, of course! It was a time of change, endings and beginnings, for Frances Willard and the temperance movement in Evanston. Willard Leaves Northwestern University Willard’s resignation from Northwestern came after a year of difficulties.[1] In June, 1873, when the Evanston College for … Read more
Part 2 of a series By Janet Olson, CWHL archivist. During 2024, to mark the 150th anniversary of the founding of the National Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (November, 1874), we will be shining a local spotlight on the Evanston women (and men) who were “early adopters” of the temperance campaign. This joint project of the … Read more
By Janet Olson Speaking at a Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) meeting in Evanston in 1883, Mrs. Jennette Hauser posed the title question. It was a logical question—after all, Evanston had been dry since 1855, thanks to Northwestern University’s charter, which stated that no alcohol could be sold within four miles of the University.[1] Since … Read more
During summer 2023, the Frances Willard House Museum and WCTU Archives highlighted stories of women’s mobility and travel on tours and social media. Many artifacts, documents, and photographs in our collection provide insight into the ways in which women crossed borders, transcended boundaries, and formed wide-ranging coalitions. The first collection item we shared was Frances … Read more
This summer, the Frances Willard House Museum is highlighting stories of women’s mobility and travel. Many items on display at the Museum provide insight into the ways in which women crossed borders, transcended boundaries, and formed wide-ranging coalitions. The research and initial draft for this blogpost were done by Britt Fagerstrom, Luke Eberts, and Jessica … Read more
This summer, the Frances Willard House Museum is highlighting stories of women’s mobility and travel. Many items on display at the Museum provide insight into the ways in which women crossed borders, transcended boundaries, and formed wide-ranging coalitions. The research and initial writing for this blogpost was conducted by Ali Schultz, Hana Ross, and Natalie … Read more
One hundred years ago today, May 20, 1922, the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union Administration Building opened, signaling a full and final shift of the organization’s headquarters to Evanston. Located directly behind the Willard House at 1730 Chicago Avenue, this significant building hides in plain sight. Though no longer functioning as the WCTU’s national headquarters building, … Read more
By Kristin Jacobsen, Assistant Archivist, Frances Willard House Museum and WCTU Archives Men may have dominated the California Gold Rush in the mid-nineteenth century, but the women of the state were energized by a longer-lasting undertaking – the temperance movement. A newly available collection of historical records tells the story of some of these women, the … Read more
Great minds think alike, it’s said, and that statement was well illustrated last week in the Willard Archives, when faculty members from three different institutions of higher learning descended on the Archives at the same time. The three professors were doing end-of-summer research on very different projects, but, as is so often the case in … Read more
Time was when this statement meant that the speaker was a recovering alcoholic making a triumphal return from Dwight, Illinois, after undergoing the famous “Keeley Gold Cure” in that small but bustling town. For me, it means I’m back from a conference of the Alcohol & Drugs History Society (ADHS), held in Dwight from July … Read more