Frances Willard House (Evanston, Illinois)
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The Frances Willard House is a
historic house museum A historic house museum is a house of historic significance that has been transformed into a museum. Historic furnishings may be displayed in a way that reflects their original placement and usage in a home. Historic house museums are held to a ...
owned by the National WCTU and is a
National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
at 1730 Chicago Avenue in
Evanston, Illinois Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, ...
. Built in 1865, it was the home of
Frances Willard Frances Elizabeth Caroline Willard (September 28, 1839 – February 17, 1898) was an American educator, temperance reformer, and women's suffragist. Willard became the national president of Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) in 1879 an ...
(1839-1898) and her family, and was the longtime headquarters of the
Woman's Christian Temperance Union The Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) is an international temperance organization, originating among women in the United States Prohibition movement. It was among the first organizations of women devoted to social reform with a program th ...
(WCTU). Willard called the house Rest Cottage because it became a place for her to rest in between her tours and WCTU activities.


History

Frances Willard Frances Elizabeth Caroline Willard (September 28, 1839 – February 17, 1898) was an American educator, temperance reformer, and women's suffragist. Willard became the national president of Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) in 1879 an ...
was born in 1839 in Churchville, New York. When she was two, her family moved to
Oberlin, Ohio Oberlin is a city in Lorain County, Ohio, United States, 31 miles southwest of Cleveland. Oberlin is the home of Oberlin College, a liberal arts college and music conservatory with approximately 3,000 students. The town is the birthplace of th ...
, a town recently founded by ministers who wanted to build a community with strong Christian morals. When she was 18, Willard moved with her family to
Evanston, Illinois Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, ...
, to attend the
Northwestern Female College Northwestern or North-western or North western may refer to: * Northwest, a direction * Northwestern University, a private research university in Evanston, Illinois ** The Northwestern Wildcats, this school's intercollegiate athletic program ** No ...
. She spent the next sixteen years of her life as an educator at a variety of institutions across the county. In 1865, her father Josiah, who stayed in Evanston, built a house, which remains as the southern portion of the current structure. Frances Willard returned to Evanston and moved in with her father in 1871 when she accepted a position as Dean of the Women's College at Northwestern. Unhappy with the role of women at the university, and frequently at odds with University President Charles Henry Fowler, Willard resigned three years later. Willard's resignation prompted a change in her life. She resumed her position as a travelling educator, but began to focus on the study of
temperance Temperance may refer to: Moderation *Temperance movement, movement to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed *Temperance (virtue), habitual moderation in the indulgence of a natural appetite or passion Culture *Temperance (group), Canadian danc ...
. In the summer of 1874, Willard travelled around the East Coast to meet with other temperance advocates. She also became a noted public speaker on the virtue. Returning to Evanston, she helped to found the
Woman's Christian Temperance Union The Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) is an international temperance organization, originating among women in the United States Prohibition movement. It was among the first organizations of women devoted to social reform with a program th ...
(WCTU) and was elected its first corresponding secretary and first president of the
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
chapter. Her brother Oliver died in 1878, and Frances decided to expand her Evanston home that April to accommodate his widow and four children. The next year, she was elected President of the WCTU. After her brother's family moved to Germany, Willard began to rent out the northern section of her house to friends and fellow WCTU members. This section soon became used as an informal headquarters for the WCTU under Willard. Willard died in 1898 and left the entire house to the WCTU in her will. Two years later, the WCTU made the house in Evanston its national headquarters. The WCTU also made the house into a museum dedicated to Willard in that year. In 1910, the organization built the Literature Building in the rear of the property. On June 23, 1965, the house was declared a
National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
by the
National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propert ...
. When the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
was founded a year later, it was automatically listed. It was surveyed by the
Historic American Buildings Survey Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) is a division of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) responsible for administering the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and Historic American Landscapes ...
in 1967. Museum tours are now offered to the public on the first and third Sundays of every month.


Architecture

The original 1865 house was probably based on a pattern book. It was an L-shaped building with vertical board and
batten A batten is most commonly a strip of solid material, historically wood but can also be of plastic, metal, or fiberglass. Battens are variously used in construction, sailing, and other fields. In the lighting industry, battens refer to linea ...
siding. The 1878 addition was consistent with the architectural form of the house but greatly expanded it. Proceeds from the sale of Willard's autobiography were used to add large bay windows on the main facade around 1890. Willard made another addition in 1893. The two-story house is in the Carpenter Gothic style. It is painted pearl grey and has white trim. The front of the house has two columned porches. Three small porches lead to other entrances, and the second floor has a balcony on the rear. The three gables on the main facade have decorative trim and a turned finial in the center. There are seventeen rooms in the house, most with oak and walnut flooring.


See also

*
List of National Historic Landmarks in Illinois There are 88 National Historic Landmarks in Illinois, including Eads Bridge, which spans into Missouri and which the National Park Service credits to Missouri's National Historic Landmark list. Also included are two sites that were once National ...
*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Cook County, Illinois This is a list of the 129 National Register of Historic Places listings in Cook County, Illinois outside Chicago and Evanston. Separate lists are provided for the 62 listed properties and historic districts in Evanston and the more than 350 l ...


References


External links


Frances Willard House Museum & Archives


{{DEFAULTSORT:Willard, Frances, House Buildings and structures in Evanston, Illinois Historic house museums in Illinois Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Cook County, Illinois Museums in Evanston, Illinois National Historic Landmarks in Illinois Woman's Christian Temperance Union History of women in Illinois