March 2 - 8, 2020

March 2 - 8, 2020 Vol. 28 No. 9

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Calendar

See what Chicago has to offer!

SportsWise

Sounding off on sporting events.

Cover Story: Womens suffrage

StreetWise opens Women's History Month with a look at the important role Illinois played in helping women gain the vote 100 years ago. We profile six women who were influential at both the state and national level. In addition, the League of Women Voters, founded in Chicago, celebrates its centennial.

From the Streets

Lyric Opera of Chicago offers a "touch tour" of its current production, "Madama Butterfly."

The Playground inside streetwise

National Lewis University student Quanna Hughes shares her thoughts after visiting the StreetWise offices.

ON THE COVER: “Working Out Her Destiny� by Louis Bonhajo for League of Women Voters, Erie, Pennsylvania, 1920 (Library of Virginia) THIS PAGE: Photograph of suffragists picketing with banners outside large stone building in Chicago at the Republican National Convention in June, 1920. Banner in foreground reads: "Republicans What Will You Do For Woman Suffrage?" Chicago Tribune photo courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Dave Hamilton, Creative Director/Publisher

dhamilton@streetwise.org

StreetWiseChicago @StreetWise_CHI

Suzanne Hanney, Editor-In-Chief

suzannestreetwise@yahoo.com

Amanda Jones, Director of programs

ajones@streetwise.org

Julie Youngquist, CEO

jyoungquist@streetwise.org

LEARN MORE AT streetwise.org

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CHIditarod photo

CHIditarod: See March 7

MARCH 3

Laser Cutter Charms When: 1:30 - 3:30 p.m.

Where: Harold Washington Library, 400 S. State St. What: Create a charm bracelet by designing custom charms in Inkscape and cutting them out with a laser cutter. Basic computer skills are required. chipublib.bibliocommons.com.

FREE.

MARCH 5 - APRIL 12

'Legends: the Musical' When: Thurs 7:30 p.m.; Fri 8 p.m.; Sat 3 & 8 p.m.; Sun 3 p.m.

Where: Black Ensemble Theater, 4450 N. Clark St. What: This is a bold musical journey that examines the effects of racism on America, a tribute to those who have fought against it and a demand for it to end. It is about the Civil Rights movement yesterday, today, and tomorrow. $55 at blackensembletheater.org.

MARCH 6

Forever Green When: 7 - 11:30 p.m.

Where: Theater on the Lake, 2401 N. Lake Shore Drive What: This is Chicago’s largest St. Patrick’s Day party, and it is celebrating its 45th year.

There will be live entertainment.

Proceeds from this year’s event will benefit The Mulliganeers and The Henry Schueler 41 & 9 Foundation. $60 at youngirish. com.

MARCH 6 - 7

El Ritmo de la Tierra When: 7 p.m.

Where: Instituto Cervantes, 31 W. Ohio St. What: Nino de los Reyes is a world-renowned flamenco dancer. He draws influences from modern dance and tap, but his art always has flamenco and duende at its core. José Cortés will be the vocalist, and José Luis de la Paz will be on guitar. More info at flamencoartscenter.com. $30.

MARCH 6 - 8

World of Wheels When: Fri 3 - 10 p.m.; Sat 10 a.m. - 10 p.m.; Sun 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Where: Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, 9301 Bryn Mawr Ave., Rosemont What: View America’s finest selection of hot rods, trucks and motorcycles. Ric Flair, Cody Walker and Aaron Kaufman will be at the event. There will be auctions each day. More info at autorama.com. $19.

MARCH 6 - 15

One Earth Film Festival When: Various Where: Various What: This is the Midwest’s premier environmental film festival, creating opportunities for understanding climate change, sustainability and the power of human involvement. It showcases top-issue, thought-provoking environmental films and leads

audiences in interactive postfilm discussions focused on solutions. This is a production of Green Community Connections. www.oneearthfilmfest. org. FREE.

MARCH 7

CHIditarod When: 12:30 p.m.

Where: The Cobra Lounge, 235 N. Ashland Ave. What: This event is part charity food drive, part beauty pageant and part bar crawl. The main event is a costumed shopping cart race, aimed to resemble the Iditarod. Every CHIditarod team has to show up to the starting line with at least 69 pounds of non-perishable food in their cart. At the end of the race, all that food is donated to the Greater Chicago Food Depository. Registration is closed, but spectators are encouraged to watch at the Cobra Lounge, which is right next to the spot that is the starting line and the finish line. More info at chiditarod.org. FREE. South Side Irish Parade Film Festival When: 3 & 7 p.m.

Where: Beverly Arts Center, 2407 W. 111th St. What: This film festival will be showing two movies: “The Secret of Kells” at 3 p.m. and “Odd Man Out” at 7 p.m. There will be a pre-show reception with traditional Irish music, and after the second show there will be an after-party with drinks,

dancing and music from local band A Week Back. $6 for the first show and $18 for the second. Beverlyartcenter.org.

Jazz Thaw When: 3 - 10 p.m.

Where: Various What: Stop into any participating local restaurant to enjoy live music and the option to order from the host restaurant’s menu. The restaurants are all over Oak Park, including Nando’s Peri Peri, Beer Shop, and Sushi House. Bands include the James Sanders Duo, Joe Policastro Trio, and many more. Schedule at downtownoakpark.net. FREE.

MARCH 7 - JUNE 21 El Greco: Ambition and Defiance When: Sat - Tues 10:30 a.m. - 5 p.m.; Wed - Fri 10:30 a.m. - 8 p.m.

Where: Art Institute, 111 S. Michigan Ave. What: This major exhibition charts the career of the artist known simply as El Greco.

Over 57 works trace the development of his distinctive style, as well as his evident ambition.

These works were created in Crete, Venice, Rome, Spain and more. FREE with museum admission. www.artic.edu.

MARCH 8

Chicago Artisan Market When: 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Where: Morgan MFG, 401 N. Morgan St.

What: This event showcases the best of Chicago and the Midwest in food, fashion, home goods and art. The curated market celebrates the ingenuity of independent, small businesses who channel their passions into creating one-of-a-kind products. Meet and shop with the artisans and learn how they make their products. Look, feel and taste your way through this Sunday market. There will also be DIY classes and Kids Zone activities. Tickets start at $8 on chicagoartisanmarket.com.

International Women’s Day Edgewater Crawl When: 11 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Where: Broadway, between Granville and Thorndale What: The Edgewater Chamber of Commerce is celebrating this holiday with a crawl, giving everybody the chance to tour women-owned businesses, chat with inspiring small business owners and savor the neighborhood’s unique flavors. Participants should start at Chicago Mosaic School. See a full list of participating businesses at edgewater.org. $35, and a portion of ticket sales benefit Loom Chicago, a local nonprofit that supports women with refugee status who create hand-made crafts like jewelry or purses.

Brewja’s Day: A Celebration of Women-owned Businesses When: 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Where: Que4 Radio, 2643 W. Chicago Ave. What: In celebration of International Women’s Day, Brewja Co. is partnering with Que4 for this event to support women in business. NY Macs is supplying all the macarons and Brewja Co. will be selling coffee. Register at eventbrite.com. FREE. Sweet Tap Chicago When: 2 & 5 p.m.

Where: The Mayne Stage, 1328 W. Morse Ave. What: Chicago Tap Theatre is bringing tap dance back to one of its historical roots, the jazz club. This event is in celebration of Chicago musicians and music, as all the songs are from or inspired by Chicago. There will be a live jazz sextet. Tickets start at $30 at chicagotaptheatre.com.

THROUGH MARCH 8

‘graveyard shift’ When: 7:30 p.m. Wed, 2 & 7:30 p.m. Thurs, 8 p.m. Fri, 2 & 8 Sat, 2 p.m. Sun Where: Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn St. What: World premiere play by korde arrington tuttle is loosely inspired by the legacy of Sandra Bland. When Janelle receives the opportunity of a lifetime, she relocates to Texas. Her world collides with that of a small town police officer whose love .

interest has just decided to leave town. Tickets $15+ at goodmantheatre.org/graveyardshift

MARCH 10

Adventures Among Orangutans When: 7 p.m.

Where: Auditorium Theatre, 50 E. Ida B Wells Drive What: This is part of Auditorium Theatre’s National Geographic Live Series. Come to the theatre for this presentation, which gives a closer look at the intelligent but endangered orangutans through husband-and-wife duo Tim Laman and Cheryl Knott, who have dedicated their lives to understanding and protecting orangutans. Tickets start at $42 at auditoriumtheatre.org.

MARCH 11

CFT Volunteer Meet & Greet When: 5:30 - 8 p.m.

Where: HHPLift, 329 W. 18th St. What: Chicago Fair Trade is putting on this event for community members to meet Sarah Faur, CFF's new volunteer coordinator.

During this event, people will get the chance to learn about CFT and its upcoming events and activities. At 6:30 p.m., there will be a chance to make soap in the workshop at this venue. www. chicagofairtrade.org. FREE.

Evening with Orchids When: 6 - 8 p.m.

Where: Chicago Botanic Garden, 1000 Lake Cook Rd., Glencoe What: Come to this event for tastings of local spirits and specialty cocktails, while enjoying the surrounding exhibition, which has over 10,000 orchids.

Tickets start at $30 in advance at chicagobotanic.org.

THROUGH MARCH 21

'I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter' When: Fri 7:30 p.m.; Sat 3 & 7:30 p.m.; Sun 3 p.m.

Where: Steppenwolf Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted St. What: A world premiere adaptation of Erika L. Sánchez’s award-winning novel, “I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter.” This play follows Julia, a Chicago high school student, as she navigates trials and tribulations of following her dreams of becoming a writer alongside the death of her sister, Olga, who might not have been quite as perfect as she seemed.

This poignant and vibrant new work is a love story to young Chicanas who, in trying to find the truth about the people and the world around them, end up finding themselves. Two new performances have been added due to popular demand. $20 at steppenwolf.org.

-compiled by Rachel Koertner

Forever Green: See March 6

Sweet Tap Chicago: See March 8

Young Irish Fellowship Club photo

David Harmantas photo

www.streetwise.org

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Vendors Russ Adams, John Hagan and Donald Morris chat with Executive Assistant Patrick Edwards about the world of sports.

SPORTSWISE

Sounding

off on the world of sports !

John: I want to talk about San Diego State out of the West. Currently, they're 260, with three games remaining before the conference tournament. In order to be a #1 seed, this team can’t lose any game because they play in a conference where a loss could drop them to a 4th seed. Why is that? The other teams in tougher conferences can lose a game to one of their tougher opponents and maintain ground, but if you’re in a mid-major conference, there's more pressure to go undefeated. Seems unfair, but makes sense. Donald?

Donald: Let’s talk about Kobe Bryant accolades given at the NBA All-Star game recently.

Chicago, you did a great job.

With Common and Chance the Rapper representing, we showed diversity with how to reach out to the youth—and not just in Chicago. There was a lot of good feedback from sports commentators everywhere. Team LeBron did a beautiful job beginning and ending. A 2-point win in a high-scoring game despite all-around good defense.

And the game delivered tons of money to charity. Team LeBron stood up against the world going against a loadedwith-international-players East team. A very good NBA weekend.

Russ: Switching to baseball and the scandal from the World Series. So, the Houston Astros were caught stealing signs…and I'm still not sure how that would be beneficial to a win. I mean, if I

know a team is stealing our signs, then I’m going to adapt.

Throw a curveball when we call a fastball, or a change up when we call a slider.

Patrick: The mission is how not to get caught.

All: (Laughter.)

Russ: Me? I'm gonna deny, deny, deny. I'm still not sure how it happened, what with no home team winning a game in the Series--so no sign-stealing there, right?

Patrick: How’re they rectifying the situation?

Russ: The manager and general manager were fired, and the team lost its 2020 and 2021 draft selections and had to pay a huge fine.

Patrick: Reminds me of the home run scandal with Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire and a few others “cheating.”

I mean, how do you fix it?

An asterisk? Always tough.

But let me talk about the NBA All-Star game in Chicago: It took me a bit to grasp the format, but once I did, I liked it, especially the heavy charity bent. And I can't wait until next year because I now understand it. And the side events--the dunk- and 3-point contest? I loved seeing the camaraderie. The second-place guys cheered the winners as if they, themselves, had won. Awesome.

John: Discussing the NBA All-Star game, I did have a problem with the teams’ names: Team LeBron and Team Giannis. I would have honored Kobe Bryant by having the home team - Team LeBron - wear purple and 24 (Kobe’s final jersey number). For the East, I'd have had them wear yellow with Kobe's first jersey number: 8. West versus East—shoot,

felt like a high-school pickup game with the choosing.

Donald: Quick shoutout to the WNBA. The Chicago Sky are rising with their new acquisitions. Check 'em out.

Russ: Adding to the WNBA talk, there have been a couple of real interesting trades. Definitely looking forward to it.

Patrick: Man, y'all be knowing y'all's stuff. Be killin' me.

Shoot, I stick with the Bulls, Bears, Lakers--Very impressed.

Russ: You just work on getting us some tickets! Bulls, DePaul, Sky--any of 'em!

Shoot, we want to talk about some live games!

All: (Laughter.)

John: I'm done. Enjoyed the heck out of this. SportsWise, and we're out.

Grace Wilbur Trout begins suffrage tour in Downtown Chicago.

Votes for Women

by Suzanne Hanney

How Illinois paved the way during the women's suffrage movement

“It was a continuous, seemingly endless, chain of activity,” Na-

tional American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) President Carrie Chapman Catt wrote after the 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote in 1920. “Young suffragists who helped forge the last links of that chain were not born when it began. Old suffragists who forged the first links were dead when it ended.”

More than 70 years earlier, in July 1848, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott organized the first women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls, NY. Modeled after the Declaration of Independence, their preamble noted, “we hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights...”

Cady Stanton and Mott continued to call annual conventions that drew women such as Susan B. Anthony and Lucy Stone. The Civil War, however, put the conventions on hiatus because popular efforts were focused on the

winning the war for the North.

Afterward, suffragists split over the 15th Amendment, passed in 1870, which said that the vote should not be denied because of “race, color or previous condition of servitude.” It covered African American men but said nothing about women.

Cady Stanton and Anthony founded the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA), which opposed the 15th Amendment because it didn’t cover women. NWSA’s methodology for gaining the vote was a federal constitutional amendment.

In response, Stone and Julia Ward Howe (“The Battle Hymn of the Republic”) founded the American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA), which supported the 15th Amendment because Stone reasoned that women’s suffrage would happen soon. The AWSA favored a state-by-state strategy.

In 1890, the two groups merged into the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA), which combined the state-by-state and constitutional

amendment methods.

Illinois was the first state east of the Mississippi River to give women limited suffrage in 1913. Illinois also played an outsized role in the national movement because of six women – Jane Addams, Frances Willard, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Elizabeth Boynton Harbert, Catharine Waugh McCulloch and Grace Wilbur Trout – according to the Evanston History Center’s Suffrage 2020 Illinois website.

Addams as the founder of the Hull House settlement, Willard as the head of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, and Wells-Barnett as an antilynching journalist and organizer, were three of the most famous women in the United States during the Progressive Era. In addition, Harbert was a local journalist on women’s issues and president of the Evanston Woman’s Club, McCulloch was a lawyer on women’s issues, and Trout a clubwoman whose organizing was done with flair, from suffragist parades to touring car visits in Illinois towns.

There were conflicts. Wells-Barnett had written extensively that it was a myth that black men raped white women, the usual argument for lynching in the South. Rather, she said, lynching was a means of control. Seeking to win WCTU members in the South, Willard

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Riding a white horse, Inez Milholland Boissevain leads a national suffrage parade down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. on March 3, 1913, the eve of Woodrow Wilson's inauguration. The women gained new sympathy for their cause after men blocked their path, manhandled them and spat upon them as police stood by. An Army unit finally helped the parade continue and the police superintendent lost his job. Trying to appease Southerners, parade organizers asked Ida B. Wells-Barnett to march at the back with other African-Americans; she waited until the Illinois delegation walked by and inserted herself along with two white friends.

upheld racial stereotypes about drinking and violence, until Wells-Barnett called her on it, according to the Frances Willard Museum website. Willard never retracted her statements, but the WCTU passed yearly anti-lynching resolutions from 1893 to 1899.

In another instance, when Trout was elected IESA president in 1912, McCulloch resigned because she felt Trout’s tactics “were too passive and accommodating [while] Trout’s supporters considered McCulloch too radical,” according to “Women Building Chicago 1790-1990.” Just the same, within one year Trout managed to get the suffrage bill passed that McCulloch had written in 1893 and had offered annually, unsuccessfully, to the General Assembly.

The only possible way to succeed, Trout wrote later in “Side Lights on Illinois Suffrage History” for the Illinois State Historical Society, “was to convert so-called opponents into friends.” She waged a “quiet campaign:” no publicity, no special suffragist trains to Springfield, no special hearings.

She did, however, keep a card file on all the legislators. And on a rotating basis, she visited Chicago’s seven newspapers and got them to write editorials, which were placed on legislators’ desks.

Before the bill came up for final vote, she organized a telephone campaign --”one continuous ring” -- at the Chicago home and office of the Speaker of the House from Saturday through Monday. And when the Speaker returned to Springfield Tuesday morning, thousands of letters and telegrams awaited him. He scheduled the final vote for June 11, 1913, when it was passed.

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Trout said that Catt told her that New York would never have passed suffrage in 1917 “if Illinois had not first opened the door in 1913, and the winning of New York so added to the political strength of the suffrage movement in Congress that it made possible the passage of the Federal Suffrage Amendment in 1919, so the work in Illinois was fundamental and as vitally important to the women of the whole nation as it was to the women of Illinois.”

Trout met with President Woodrow Wilson to seek his endorsement of suffrage, as did Catt.

Wilson was impressed that suffragists shifted their efforts toward World War I, but it was his daughter, Jessie Wilson Sayre, who convinced him about suffrage, according to the Wilson Center. He also worried that his Democratic party would lose its congressional majorities in the 1918 midterm elections if Congress failed to pass women’s suffrage, according to the website of the U.S. Senate. He was right.

In May 1919, a Republican from Illinois, U.S. Rep. James R. Mann, introduced the Susan B. Anthony Amendment, which passed with 42 more votes than the required two-thirds majority. Two weeks later, the U.S. Senate passed the 19th amendment with two votes over the two-thirds majority.

Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin ratified the amendment within six days. By March 1920, 35 states had ratified. Although seven southern states had rejected the Amendment, Tennessee became the 36th and final state on Aug. 18, 1920.

Jane Addams

b. in Cedarville, Illinois in 1860, d. in 1935 in Chicago Founder of Hull House social settlement in 1889 Vice president of National Woman Suffrage Association from 1911 to 1914 First American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, in 1931

“Jane Addams towers over Chicago history like a mythical Amazon of social reform,” according to “Women Building Chicago 1790-1990: a Biographical Dictionary.” “Rising to prominence between 1889 and 1910, she became the central figure in that pantheon of reform notables who created the ‘progressive’ response to industrial capitalism.”

Addams’s father had been a Republican Illinois state senator. She learned politics and history from him before entering nearby Rockford Female Seminary, where she graduated as valedictorian in 1881 and then earned a bachelor’s degree.

Afterward, traveling around the U.S. and Europe, she noticed people less fortunate than herself and pondered whether mere handouts were the best way to help them. It was on a visit to the Toynbee Hall, a London settlement house, that she found her model of urban poverty addressed through cross-class fellowship. Addams and Ellen Gates Starr started Hull House with $60,000 Addams inherited at her father’s death. A later financial supporter was Addams’s close friend Mary Rozet Smith. Located in an immigrant neighborhood on South Halsted Street, it offered children’s programs, ethnic clubs, labor organizations, women’s clubs; classes in English, government, literature and art; a gymnasium, art gallery and coffee house.

But it was Addams’s skill as a writer that made the Hull House reputation.

Wealthy people gained as much as they gave in working with the “industrial classes,” she wrote in 35 articles between 1893 and 1899. She was a valued speaker for the woman’s suffrage movement but kept her distance from strategic battles between 1900 and 1920.

World War I made her a pacifist and “convinced her that women simply cared more about life than men did,” that they should be more involved in political affairs, according to “Women Building Chicago.”

Elizabeth Boynton Harbert

b. 1843 in Crawfordsville, IN; m. to William Harbert in 1870 (3 children); lived in Evanston 1874-1910; d. in California, 1925.

President, Illinois Equal Suffrage Association 1875-1889 Vice president, National Woman’s Suffrage Association for Illinois Columnist, “Woman’s Kingdom” in Chicago Inter Ocean newspaper Publisher, “New Era,” 1878 Founder (1889) and first president, Evanston Woman’s Club

As a journalist, publisher, club woman and suffragist, Harbert held a consistent viewpoint: middle class women – many of them mothers - were especially equipped to move society toward social harmony.

In the 1870s, she had been critical of male-dominated religion that sought women’s financial support without giving them any say-so on theology or policy. In 1877, she convinced the publisher of the Chicago daily Inter Ocean that he needed a column devoted to women’s interests -- and so she wrote one until 1884. In 1878, she also published “The New Era,” which reflected her view of the society that would come after women’s enfranchisement.

During her eight years as president of the Evanston Woman’s Club, it assisted in starting Evanston Hospital, in organizing the first Mother’s Club in the Evanston schools, in establishing the Association of Evanston Charities and the Evanston chapter of the Visiting Nurse Association. www.streetwise.org

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Catharine Gouger Waugh McCulloch

b. 1862 in Ransomville, NY; m. Frank Hathorn McCulloch 1890 (4 children) and moved to Evanston; d. in 1945 in Evanston Legislative superintendent of the Illinois Equal Suffrage Association (IESA), predecessor to League of Women Voters, 1890-1912 National American Women Suffrage Association legal adviser (1904-ca 1911) and 1st VP, 1910-11 President, Women’s Bar Association of Illinois, 1916-20

As a 10-year-old suffragist, Catharine was teased by boy classmates. She graduated first in her class at Rockford Female Seminary (now Rockford College), where she became lifelong friends with Jane Addams. She then attended Union College (later Northwestern University) of Law. After graduation, male lawyers propositioned her sexually in return for a clerkship.

Instead, Waugh opened her own Rockford practice. Many of her clients were women whose problems stemmed from their lack of legal status: wage discrimination, divorce, probate, child custody, abuse. In 1901, she drafted legislation that guaranteed mothers the same custody rights as fathers. In 1905, she wrote the law that strengthened rape laws and raised the age of consent from 14 to 16. Her husband shared her mission in their joint Chicago law practice.

McCulloch solved her own problem of being a working mother by serving as a Justice of the Peace, 1907-13. Perhaps the first woman in the U.S. to hold a judicial post, she twice convinced a male electorate that she would always be available, at home.

In 1893 McCulloch introduced the bill that finally became the Illinois suffrage law 20 years later; the bill allowed women to vote for presidential electors and all local officials not specifically named in the Illinois Constitution.

Grace Wilbur Trout

b. 1864 in Maquoketa, IA; m. George William Trout 1886 (4 children); lived in Oak Park 1904-21; d. 1955 in Jacksonville, FL President, Chicago Political Equality League (CPEL), 1910 President, Illinois Equal Suffrage Association (IESA) 1912-1915/1916-1920

A gifted public speaker with a flair for making headlines, Trout led the Illinois suffrage movement during its final, most crucial, decade. A member of multiple women’s clubs whose husband was in the oil business, she typified the movement’s shift toward upper middle class, educated, socially conservative women.

As CPEL president, Trout entered the first suffrage float in Chicago’s Sane Fourth parade on July 4, 1910. It won more cheers from the crowd than any other entry but that of Civil War veterans – possibly because of the pretty girls aboard, not the crowd’s sympathy with suffrage, a Tribune reporter noted.

A week later, with a touring car and chauffeur, Trout led the first Suffrage Automobile Tour of Illinois: 16 towns within 40 miles of Chicago in five days. Gathered on street corners and train stations, Trout and IESA members discussed women’s suffrage issues – and were assured of front page coverage the next day.

As president of the IESA – predecessor to the Illinois League of Women Voters – Trout worked to pass a bill in the General Assembly to assure women’s right to vote in presidential and municipal elections. With a diplomatic rather than confrontational style, she approached opponents as uninformed but well-intentioned people who just needed gentle prodding. But she also kept index cards on each legislator.

The bill passed on June 11, 1913, making Illinois the first state east of the Mississippi River to give women any kind of suffrage.

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Ida B. Wells-Barnett

b. 1862 in Holly Springs, MS; m. to Ferdinand Barnett in 1895 (4 children); d. in Chicago, 1931 Started first anti-lynching campaign in Memphis in 1892 Protested exclusion of African Americans from World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893, with Frederick Douglass Published weekly “Chicago Conservator” newspaper founded in 1878 by her lawyer husband Organized Alpha Suffrage Club Co-founder of National Association of Colored Women’s Clubs, 1896 Co-founder of National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) with W.E.B. DuBois and others in 1909

The lynching of a grocer friend who had competed with other businesses launched Ida B. Wells as an investigative reporter. Lynching was the result of economic competition and the desire for control, she realized, not the myth that black men were raping white women.

White women activists had an important role to play in terms of community uplift and lynching, Wells-Barnett felt, and so it was important for black women to “emancipate” their white sisters from prejudice.

She worked with Jane Addams as part of an interracial group that convinced the Chicago Tribune to end pro-school segregation stories.

Around the time Illinois gave women limited voting rights, Wells-Barnett established the Alpha Suffrage Club, the first black women’s suffrage club in the state. Ahead of the February 1914 aldermanic primary, 3,000 women were registered in the 2nd ward; their candidate nearly beat the machine’s. Officials took note. They said if the women voted for the Republican candidate, the party would fill the next vacancy with a black candidate. As a result, Oscar DePriest became Chicago’s first black alderman.

Devoted to urban reform in her later years, she was the namesake of the former public housing development built across the street from her former home at 3624 S. King Drive.

Frances Willard

b. 1839 in Churchville, NY; d. in 1898 in New York City President, Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) 1879-1898 President, Evanston College for Ladies 1871 (merged into Northwestern University 1872) President, National Council of Women, 1888

Frances Willard was an influencer at the turn of the 19th century. For 20 years she had led the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), which had 200,000 members at her death, both black and white. Besides sobriety, the WCTU’s reform agenda included women’s economic and religious rights, marriage reform and the growing gap between rich and poor. Suffrage became one of its goals as a means of “Home Protection:” women’s votes could help pass legislation to ban alcohol, thus protecting women from the effects of male drunkenness, whether physical abuse or loss of job/income. Members obtained signatures on petitions, produced suffrage plays and hosted debates.

Raised on a farm in Janesville, WI, Willard was homeschooled by her mother.

Her father served in the state legislature until he moved the family to Evanston, IL, where he became a banker. Willard graduated from North Western Female College and was initially a teacher. She never married but had friendships with women who shared her goals.

Women were morally superior, Willard believed, so they were needed in the male-dominated world of politics, business and government, in order to make it responsive to women and children. A powerful orator, she presented this message to her white, middle class audience in a language they understood: that of evangelical Protestantism. God had called them to make the world better.

The peak of her power was her presidency of the National Council of Women, organized during the 40th anniversary of the Seneca Falls, NY declaration of women’s rights in 1888. She pushed for women’s coalitions in cities and states across the U.S.

www.streetwise.org

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Chicago's League of Women Voters Celebrates 100th Anniversary The League of Women Voters (LWV) celebrated its centennial February 14 in the very same place it was founded exactly However, 100 years before: the Gold Room of the Congress Plaza Hotel. Civic leaders and League members focused less on history than on the future.

The League was founded as a civic education organization Feb. 14, 1920, six months before the 19th Amendment gave women the unqualified right to vote, but today voter suppression threatens that right in many states, speakers said.

“Civic engagement – the right to vote – is the one right upon which all other rights depend,” said Atty. Gen. Kwame Raoul.

“The 2020 election will be the turning point. Other states have made it harder to vote, Illinois has made it easier.” Gov. Bruce Rauner signed automatic voter registration into law in 2017; anytime voters interact with government, they are registered to vote, unless they opt out.

But poll taxes and other archaic voter suppression methods still threaten civic engagement, U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth said.

“As we move into spaces where decisions are being made, we want those whose voices are not being heard to go with us,” said Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton. In particular she referenced a visit to Holly Springs, MS, the birthplace of Ida B. Wells-Barnett, an African American journalist who campaigned against lynching in the South and who provided political education to Chicago blacks in the early 20th century. Statton continued, “It was important to me as a black woman in politics that she did so much to make voices count. As we move into spaces where decisions are being made, we want those voices that are not being heard to go with us.”

Wells-Barnett's great-granddaughter, Dr. Michelle Duster, said Illinois is a history making state, with many women in key government positions. Duster has been working with the sculptor Richard Hunt on a monument to her greatgrandmother in Bronzeville and now, the $300,000 goal has been met for its central structure.

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“Without transparency, we can’t have good government,” said Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, a League member herself. “The League of Women Voters makes me accountable.

It is a multi-issue organization.”

“When we advocate with elected officials, we amplify our voice,” said League President Allyson Haut. Much like women’s suffrage, which took 70 years to achieve, “our work toward goals may not be achieved in our lifetime and it may benefit people we may never know.”

Haut issued a call to action on the Equal Rights Amendment and on Fair Maps.

“The first article of the Constitution mandates [that] we count,” she said about the maps. “The census is about fair representation; in Illinois we are putting an end to gerrymandering. An independent commission to redraw maps in Illinois will choose officials and not vice versa.

We have until May 3 to put it on the ballot.”

Mary Kubasak, a 50-year League member whose mother was president of the Riverdale/Dolton branch, said she was glad that the League was always completely nonpartisan, never supporting any party or individual but always asking candidates the same set of questions on the issues. “When we transitioned from the Illinois Equal Suffrage Association to the League [in 1920], because now we were voters, we decided we would be stronger if we didn’t go to one party or the other but had as our mission to educate first-time voters,” Kubasak said.

“I’m really proud to be part of the League because of its nonpartisan nature, its efforts to make a difference without seeking glory,” said Pris Mims, another longtime volunteer.

The League was founded as a national organization in Chicago ahead of the 19th Amendment. A year earlier, National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) President Carrie Chapman Catt had proposed the creation of a "league of women voters to finish the fight and aid in the reconstruction of the nation."

Lyric opera 'Madama Butterfly' touch tour

by Suzanne Hanney

Retired attorney Paul Rink first saw “Madama Butterfly” at Lyric Opera of Chicago in 1965, but a recent backstage “touch tour” helped him understand how performers inhabit costumes and props to make them real.

Rink has had low vision for much of his life and loves listening to opera for the music, the singing, and how a composer shapes a story through music.

Anthony Clark Evans as the American consul Sharpless, left, accompanies the young U.S. naval officer Pinkerton portrayed by Brian Jagde on his return to the home he shared with Butterfly. (Todd Rosenberg photo) In photo at right, Steven Cunningham examines the walking stick used by Sharpless, which sits on backstage props table, (left) along with small boat used by Sorrow, the son of Butterfly and Pinkerton. (Both photos by Suzanne Hanney)

Bottom left, Deborah Nansteel as Suzuki, left, Butterfly's maid, Ana Maria Martinez as Butterfly and Graham Mcfarlane as Sorrow, her child with Pinkerton, scatter flower petals in anticipation of Pinkerton's return. (Photo

by Todd Rosenberg) Touch tour participant Cunningham, bottom right photo, examines the bowl of paper "petals." (Suzanne Hanney photo)

Thomas Moritz, a retired medical researcher whose vision became totally impaired in 2001, credited Lyric staff who led the tour: Maureen Reilly, costume director, and Maria DeFabo Akin, properties and scenic design director. “They were so knowledgeable, loving what they’re doing and wanting to share that love with us. It’s not just a job. It’s a passion.”

Moritz first experienced vision problems as a teen but has been a Lyric season ticket holder for 25 years. What’s important for him is the music. “I can tell if it’s a love scene or a fight scene, I don’t need to know the exact wording.” Opera appreciation takes “homework” beforehand, he said, but thanks to computers, information about composers and their stories is readily available.

FROM THE STREETS

Reilly said cultural sensitivity was important to this production of Puccini’s tragic opera about a Japanese geisha who falls in love with an American naval officer who merely wants to “take advantage of pretty flowers on every shore.” The opera continues through March 8.

Lyric touch tours have preceded one Sunday matinee of each opera this season. Other services for people who have low vision include large-print and Braille programs, high-powered opera glasses available at no cost at the main floor coat check, and audio-described performances. Services for patrons who have hearing issues include English translations above the stage, telecoil loop assistive listening devices, and on May 31, an ASL-interpreted performance of “42nd Street.” www.streetwise.org

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Streetwise 1/20/20 Crossword To solve the Sudoku puzzle, each row, column and box must contain the numbers 1 to 9.

Sudoku

©2020 PuzzleJunction.com

8 Frequently, in 34 Take to the verse hills 9 Language 35 Kill a fly type 37 Retired 10 Actress 39 Booty Witherspoon 42 Try 11 Profess 45 Blubber 12 Repast 46 Attache ___ 13 Fear or Horn 47 Fragrant 17 Bowl over storage 21 Arrange material 23 Harmonize 49 Aspirations Down 24 Fuzzy fruit 50 Garden-variety 1 Withers 25 Sketched 51 Broadcast 2 Cancel 27 Midday 52 Colleen 3 Cow juice 28 Brews 53 Has debts 4 Compass pt.

29 Buffoon 54 Pigeon’s home 5 Gastric woe 30 Night fliers 55 Sound quality 31 Enumerate 6 Stephen 56 Destroy King’s ___ 32 Model 57 Beige Things Macpherson 59 Lingerie item 7 Sunburns Copyright 33 ©2020 Wistful PuzzleJunction.com word 60 Brit. fliers 59 Carnival attraction 61 Bunsen burner 62 Ready for picking 63 Zodiac sign 64 Clairvoyant 65 Social insects 66 Grubstake

Copyright ©2020 PuzzleJunction.com

©PuzzleJunction.com

Solution Puzzle Answers Last Week’s

Solution

Sudoku Solution

Find your nearest StreetWise Vendor at www.streetwise.org

THE PLAYGROUND 14

Crossword

Across 1 Maple dropping 5 Camper’s purchase 9 Demolish 14 Hodgepodge 15 Incessantly 16 Black-andwhite crested eagle 17 Common cat food flavor 18 Vote 20 Declines 22 It’s a wrap 23 Ornamental vase 24 “The Facts of Life” actress 25 Restaurant handout 26 Musical ©2020 PuzzleJunction.com composition 7 Whistle-blower 53 Close at hand 28 Armed 8 Lean toward 57 Capital of conflict 9 Angelic Rhode Island 29 Hive dwellers 10 Amscrayed 61 Spare, e.g.

33 Riyadh native 11 Pakistani 62 Broadcast 34 Plaything tongue 63 Lariat 35 Offshore sight 12 Track offshoot 64 Footnote abbr.

37 Journal 13 Song of praise 65 Starbucks 39 Driver’s 19 Bleed offering license and 21 Faux ___ 66 Telephone others 25 ___ Day button 40 Coat part 26 Tough tests 67 Hard to 41 Seafood 27 Check endorser comprehend delicacy 28 Stir-fry pan 42 Gaucho’s 30 Expounded Down weapon 1 Oodles 31 Kind of 43 Dehydrated message 2 Jewish calendar 44 Racket 32 Move laterally month 45 Handed-down 33 Personals, e.g.

3 Hokkaido history 34 Stocking part people 46 Mother of 35 Laudatory lines 4 Cushioning Hades 36 Federal constuff 48 Madam’s mate struction over5 Brusque 49 Fall mo. seer (Abbr.)

6 Caesar’s hello 52 Furrow

38 Rule against 39 Charge carrier 41 Coastline feature 44 Dissuades 45 Golf ball position 47 1963 Paul Newman classic 48 Look of contempt 49 Iridescent stone 50 Young alpaca 51 Wrongful act 54 Baptism or bris 55 Scottish hillside 56 Pound sound 58 Spot checker?

59 “___ a chance” 60 Busy bee in Apr.

How StreetWise Works

Our Mission To empower the entrepreneurial spirit through the dignity of self-employment by providing Chicagoans facing homelessness with a combination of supportive social services, workforce development resources and immediate access to gainful employment.

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Orientation Participants complete a monthlong orientation, focusing on customer service skills, financial literacy and time management to become a badged vendor.

Financial Literacy Vendors buy StreetWise for $0.90, and sell it for $2. The profit of $1.10 goes directly to the licensed vendor for them to earn a living.

Supportive Services StreetWise provides referrals, advocacy and other support to assist participants in meeting their basic needs and getting out of crisis.

S.T.E.P. Program StreetWise’s S.T.E.P. Program provides job readiness training and ongoing direct service support to ensure participants’ success in entering the traditional workforce.

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National Louis University Students visit the StreetWise office

by Quanna Hughes

On February 17, three students from the "Civic and Community Communications" class at National Louis University, 122 S. Michigan Ave., visited StreetWise to learn more about our programs and meet some of our vendors. Quanna Hughes (left), pictured with classmates Nathan Fabian-Morales (center) and Jeremiah Reed (right) took the time to share her thoughts about StreetWise and homelessness in general.

Growing up in the Windy City, I tend to see a lot of hardship.

From drug abuse to homelessness to the worst of the worst. What intrigues me is no matter what area I go to in Chicago the homelessness problem seems to be the same all around. I got into questioning...how can this be? How can a person end up in this predicament and without any help at all? As humans, we all tend to turn a blind eye to individuals who need our help. At times we feel that it has nothing to do with us. But it does. We must consider the "what if" question. What if it were you or I in that situation-with no home, with no help. Getting the blind eye.

Growing up I often witnessed my grandmother giving to the homeless. Sometimes money, sometimes food. I must admit at times I got mad. Mad? Yes, mad. Mad because I assumed a fraction of people would use my grandmother's money for drugs or alcohol. Just another individual scoring to get the next high. However, as I got older, I got wiser.

One thing I've learned from my grandmother is that it isn't

our business what people did with her money. God knows, she said. What matters is that she is giving a helping hand to all people in need. Without judgement. I’m guilty to this day because I don’t know how to give. I still worry about what individuals will do with the money. And so now I know that I must right my wrongs. I will start giving and opening my heart.

StreetWise operations are no stranger to me. I just didn’t understand their business model. My grandmother and I would be out shopping or out to eat, and I would see this homeless man selling magazines. I was confused. I was young, you see, and I wondered “Now who did he steal these magazines from?” Still, my grandmother would always buy them. I didn't know why then, but now that I’m older I understand. And I give a round of applause to StreetWise.

StreetWise is doing something big that no one else is doing in this city. StreetWise is giving that helping hand that the homeless and other people in need deserve.

I love StreetWise's quote “A hand up, not a handout." The quote stands out because their mission is not only to help their vendors make money, but also to help enrich their lives by helping them become entrepreneurs, which gives them a sense of confidence. StreetWise helps the homeless with employment, free meals, hygiene, even entertainment. Underserved Chicagoans suffer enough with the city's many problems, but with StreetWise, people on the street have an outlet to show the world their value.

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