Anna E. Nicholes (May 2, 1865 – July 20, 1917) was an American social reformer, civil servant, and clubwoman associated with women's suffrage and the settlement movement in Chicago. She devoted her life to charitable and philanthropic work.

Early life and education

Anna E. Nicholes was born in Chicago, Illinois, May 2, 1865. She graduated from Englewood High School (renamed Englewood Technical Prep Academy before closure) and afterward from Rockford College (now Rockford University), in

Rockford, Illinois Rockford is a city in Winnebago County, Illinois, located in the far northern part of the state. Situated on the banks of the Rock River, Rockford is the county seat of Winnebago County (a small portion of the city is located in Ogle County). ...

, 1886.

Career

She was a co-founder and the first civic director of the

Chicago Woman's Club The Chicago Woman's Club was formed in 1876 by women in Chicago who were interested in "self and social improvement." The club was notable for creating educational opportunities in the Chicago region and helped create the first juvenile court in th ...

, as well as a member of its reform department. She was a member of the Englewood Woman's Club, and served as chair of the industrial committee of the Illinois Federation of Women's Clubs. She was a Director of Associated Charities, Englewood District. Nicholes was a member of the Equal Suffrage Association and of the South Side Suffrage Association. In 1913, Nicholes became a chosen a member of the Cook County

civil service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

commission, serving as secretary until 1915. Nicholes put life, common sense, and human understanding into a brief career as an officeholder. In one term as county civil service commissioner, she achieved the task of making merit rule. For the time, she revolutionized public employment. In 1915, she resigned for her civil service position in order to continue on with her work at Neighborhood House settlement where Nicholes was a co-founder, and had been head resident for a number of years. She served as director of the Neighborhood House Woman's Club. She was one of the first persons in the city to encourage the organization of working women. She served as reasurer of the Consumers' League, and as secretary of the Woman's Trade Union League of Illinois. For some time, Nicholes served as editor of the woman's department of the ''Union Labor Advocate'', a feminist labor monthly periodical published in Chicago from 1901. She served the Rockford College Alumnae Association as president and for six years, was a member of the Board of the Chicago Rockford College Association.

Personal life

Nicholes traveled from the east coast to the west coast of the U.S. In religion, she attended Chicago's Normal Park Presbyterian Church. Anna E. Nicholes always lived in Chicago. She died July 20, 1917, at her country home near Traverse City, Michigan. She was survived by her sister, S. Grace Nicholes, of Chicago.

Selected works

While a resident at Neighborhood House Chicago, Nicholes published: * Nicholes, Anna E., "From School to Work. A Study of the Central Office for issuing Child Labor certificates". Reprint from ''Commons'' issued by the Illinois Branch of the Consumers' League. * Nicholes, Anna E., "Votes and Wages for Women". Issued by Illinois Equal Suffrage Association.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicholes, Anna E. 1865 births 1917 deaths People from Chicago American social reformers American suffragists American civil servants American women civil servants American women editors Clubwomen Rockford University alumni 20th-century American newspaper editors Women newspaper editors