Our Work
Combining Academic and Public History
From its beginning in the early 1970s, The Chicago Women’s History Center has combined serious academic scholarship with public education in the belief that an accurate understanding of our past is critical for women’s enlarged consciousness and the pursuit of social justice today and in the future.
Through the years, CWHC has supported research, writing, interpreting, publishing, archiving and preservation of academic Chicago women’s history. In addition, we have organized and sponsored a wide variety of public and educational programs including lectures, seminars, conferences, workshops, walking and bus tours, film and multi-media presentations, TV and radio presentations, teaching curricula, bibliographies, resource guides and women’s history awards.
Major Projects
CWHC has undertaken two major research projects which are presented in detail in other parts of this site.
Women Building Chicago 1790 – 1990, A Biographical Dictionary, edited by Rima Lunin Schultz and Adele Hast, This book was the culmination of a ten year research, writing, editing and publication project, called Telling Women’s Lives, undertaken by CWHC from 1990 - 2000. The project was managed by an editorial board, made up of CWHC members, who selected the women to be included and identified and brought together more than 350 writers from the Chicago area and across the nation to develop the entries. An extensive editing process was then done on each entry.
Published in 2001 by Indiana University Press, Women Building Chicago is a pathbreaking, award-winning reference volume containing extensive biographical essays on 423 Chicago women. Women active in labor organizing, social reform, law, medicine, science, education, art, music, politics, philanthropy, religion, literature and many other areas are included. Handsomely published, the book includes a lengthy scholarly introduction by Rima Schultz, a detailed index compiled by Adele Hast, 136 historic photographs, and a section of color reproductions of the work of Chicago women artists and craftswomen. Co-editors of the book and the project are Rima Lunin Schultz and Adele Hast. Associate editors include: Carolyn De Swarte Gifford, Babette F. Inglehart, Mary Ann Johnson, Cheryl Johnson-Odim, Clarice Stetter and Margaret Strobel.
“Documenting Women’s Activism and Leadership in the Chicago Area, 1945 – 2000” is an ongoing project to research, preserve and make available information about Chicago women’s participation in post WWII social movements through oral histories, the identification and preservation of archival materials, and the use of contemporary digital technologies. The project has identified significant women activists and leaders, organizations, institutions, publications, social actions, legislative initiatives, cultural innovations and other elements that contributed to the explosive social, cultural, political and legal change for women in Chicago during this period. The project continues to engaged a wide network of scholars, students, educators, archivists, artists, activists, community organizers and members of the general public in its work. The major components of this project are elaborated on the following pages.