Museum Blog

In 1987, Congress officially designated March as Women’s History Month to commemorate, learn about, and reflect on women who have been history makers on their own terms. Chicago has had its fair share of influential women who have shaped not only the city, but the entire nation through their activism and work. In an effort More

Portrait of Ella G. Berry. Published on in The Story of the Illinois Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs 1900–1922 by Elizabeth Lindsey Davis, 1922. CHM, ICHi-177302A Ella Berry was born Ella Tucker in 1876 in Stanford, Kentucky. Little is known about her father, Dave Tucker, but in 1870, her mother, Matilda Portman, was working as More

In this blog post, CHM curatorial intern Divya Pai recounts the work of Lucy Hyde Ewing and Madeline Upton Watson as part of a series in which we share the stories of local women who made history in anticipation of an exhibition about Chicago women and the vote. The fight for women’s suffrage in Chicago More

In this blog post, CHM curatorial intern Brigid Kennedy recounts the life of Pearl M. Hart as part of a series in which we share the stories of local women who made history in anticipation of an exhibition about Chicago women and the vote. Pearl M. Hart is remembered by her family as being fond More

In this blog post, CHM curatorial intern Brigid Kennedy recounts the life of Irene McCoy Gaines as part of a series in which we share the stories of local women who made history in anticipation of an exhibition about Chicago women and the vote. Irene McCoy Gaines devoted her career in politics and advocacy to More