Evanston Celebrates 100 Years of Women’s Suffrage

Waving miniature American flags and chanting for women’s suffrage, a crowd of about 200 people gathered in Evanston Friday to celebrate 100 years since women gained the right to vote in Illinois at a rally organized by the League of Women Voters of Evanston.

Though the rally had an impressive turnout, the number gathered at the Frances Willard House Friday doesn’t compare to the 5,000 who gathered at Evanston’s Fountain Square to welcome Evanston suffragist Catharine McCulloch back from Springfield on June 14, 1913. On that day 100 years ago, Evanston residents were celebrating McCulloch’s role in making Illinois the first state east of the Mississippi to grant women the right to vote. 

“She [Catharine McCulloch] was an amazing person in that era when they did not have automobiles everywhere and television telling us everything,” said Jean McCulloch, a descendant of Catharine McCulloch who attended Friday’s rally. “To think that those women spent all that time promoting and finally achieving their goal.”

McCulloch was an Evanston activist and Chicago attorney who was so successful that she became the first female Justice of the Peace in Illinois. Beyond women’s suffrage, she also advocated for passage of a bill that granted women equal guardianship of their children and for raising the age of consent to sexual activities in Illinois from 14 to 16.

On June 14, 1913, Evanston residents gathered at Fountain Square for a celebration led by a band, the Campfire Girls and the Boy Scouts. The next day, papers called it “the largest public demonstration in the history of Evanston” and “a first class noise-making celebration.” 

The 100-year celebration was held in a similar fashion Friday. The Ridgeville Band opened the rally with music selections from the time, about women by women. The Girl scouts sold cookies, and Illinois politicians made speeches. There was even a table for voter registration.

Historian Leslie Goddard dressed in character as Catharine McCulloch, riding around Evanston in an old-fashioned car rallying for women’s suffrage and giving a speech in the voice of the great suffragist.

“It’s fascinating to me how people have lost the sense of how much work it took for women to get the vote,” Goddard said. “I’m always fascinated by what we do and we don’t remember in history.”

Speaking at the rally, Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl proclaimed June 11 “100 Years of Women Voting Day” in the city of Evanston. She was followed by Cook County District Board Commissioner Larry Suffredin, who issued a resolution commemorating “100 Years of Women Voting Day in Cook County,” signed by the first female president of the Cook County Board, Toni Preckwinkle. 

State Rep. Robyn Gabel followed Tisdahl and Suffredin with a proclamation from Governor Pat Quinn that named June 11 Illinois Women’s Suffrage Centennial Day and encouraged all people “in the land of Lincoln to join in celebrating the proud history of women’s suffrage, activism and leadership in our state.”

Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky also spoke at the rally, proclaiming the 21st century to be “the century of woman.”  

“This is the moment when our country and our world, our sisters around the globe need us, the most resourced and privileged women in the world, to step forward,” Schakowsky said. “Our job is not done, but we are well on the way.”