Women's History See in Evanston During Open House Chicago

Every year the Chicago Architecture Foundation www.architecture.org has been hosting Open House Chicago www.openhousechicago.org the second weekend in October. During the weekend, hundreds of volunteers guide the public through over 200 sites throughout the city. It’s an exciting event that we always look forward to.

This year we stayed in Evanston and had the opportunity to view three wonderful women’s history sites. Our first stop was The Woman’s Club of Evanston. I had probably walked past this building hundreds of times, but I had no idea what was inside. Open House Chicago was my opportunity to find out. The Woman’s Club of Evanston was founded by a group of philanthropic, civic minded women in the 1880’s. The group organized around helping in the typhoid epidemic. They were active in founding the Visiting Nurses’ Association. Before meals on wheels existed, the Woman’s Club brought healthy meals to shut-ins. They’ve helped promote many civic causes and charities throughout the years including women’s suffrage, child labor laws, and public health.

While the building looks like a house, it is not. The group utilizes it for their events, activities, and meetings. I had always thought of this group as frivolous but their volunteers guiding us through the building proved me very wrong.

The Woman's Club of Evanston

 Just up the block from The Woman’s Club of Evanston is the home of Frances Willard. How appropriate. Frances Willard worked closely with Elizabeth Boynton Harbert on the issue of women’s suffrage. While Frances Willard has been mostly known – and in many cases reviled – for being a founder of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, she was also a leader of many causes for women including promoting women’s opportunity in higher education and in getting the vote. Her home was built in 1865 and had been closed because of restoration activities for about one and a half years. It was reopened to the public a few months ago. The restoration efforts have been remarkable, painstakingly adhering to the style in which it was built and decorated. For fans of that early architecture as well as of the ERA, visiting this house is worth a stop.

Last but not least we visited The Margarita European Inn – another building that I had passed hundreds of times wondering what it was. It’s almost impossible to imagine a time when young women were not able to rent apartments on their own or live independently. Nevertheless, that used to be the case. The Margarita Club opened in 1927 to house young ladies who had jobs in the area. The building has been beautifully maintained and restored. During Open House Chicago, the grand parlor, the library, room 209, the roof deck, and the manually-controlled elevator were open to the public. The building is now a boutique hotel and is gorgeously appointed. If you have any out of town guests, it would be perfect.

In the parlor of the Margarita European Inn

Next year at Open House Chicago we’ll visit a different neighborhood. I’m looking forward to it already.