The Women's L Project Blog

Carmen Velásquez

Carmen Velásquez

In the 1980’s social worker and bilingual consultant, Carmen Velásquez (born 1940), wanted all Chicagoans including those who were undocumented to receive good healthcare but she realized that would not...

Marion Mahony Griffin

Marion Mahony Griffin

Marion Mahony Griffin (1871-1961) was cradled in her mother's arms as her family escaped the Great Chicago Fire. The family relocated to a rural area just north of the city...

Isabella Garnett

Isabella Garnett

Daniel and Hannah Garnett were among the first Blacks to live in Evanston. Their daughter, Isabella Garnett (1872-1948), initially earned a nursing degree but then went to medical school and...

Margaret Hillis

Margaret Hillis

Growing up in Kokomo, Indiana Margaret Hillis (1921-1998) wanted to become an orchestra conductor. Alas, there were no orchestral conducting opportunities for women when Hillis came of age. But it...

Eunita Rushing

Eunita Rushing (born 1949) was raised in Chicago's Bronzeville neighborhood, the 4th oldest of nine girls. She first got into gardening when she was a graduate student at Loyola and...

Iris Rivera

Iris Rivera (born 1942) was employed by the Illinois Appellate Defender’s Office as a legal secretary. In January 1977 she received a memo from her boss requiring that the female...

San Luong O

San Luong O was working as a Saigon school principal and translator when she was given the opportunity to go to the US. Timing was on her side—just hours after...

Marva Collins

Marva Collins (1938-2015) grew up and was educated in the South but spent most of her professional life in Chicago. After teaching at Chicago Public Schools for 14 years, her...

Lillian Herstein

Lillian Herstein

Lillian Herstein (1886-1983) was born in Chicago to Lithuanian Jewish immigrant parents. She studied at Northwestern University where she earned a degree in Latin and Greek but dreamed of becoming...

Maria Marszewski

Maria Marszewski

If you want to find out how an Asian immigrant ended up running an old-school bar and new-school Polish/Korean restaurant in an Irish neighborhood, just ask Maria Marszewski. Born in...

Kate Warne

Twenty-three year old Kate Warne (1833-1868) had to convince Allen Pinkerton to hire her as a private detective. There were no private detective agencies in the country with a female...

Florence Price

Born in Arkansas, Florence Price (1887-1953) moved to Chicago with her family to escape Jim Crow conditions of the South. Price, trained in piano and organ at the New England...

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