Category Archives: Women

Andrew McFarland (mental health center namesake)

Posted on May 28, 2022 by editor

Dr. Andrew McFarland, the namesake of the Andrew McFarland Mental Health Center near Springfield, directed the Illinois Hospital and Asylum for the Insane in Jacksonville in the mid-1870s. Perversely, McFarland (1817-91) also helped expand the rights of people accused of … Continue reading →

Posted in Medicine, Social services, Women | Leave a comment

Springfield Sallies (professional women’s baseball)

Posted on January 25, 2022 by editor

The Springfield Sallies were one of the least successful, and also shortest-lived, teams in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. The league, whose memory was revived by the 1992 movie “A League of Their Own,” lasted from 1943 to 1954. … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Parks, Prominent figures, Sports and recreation, Women | 2 Comments

Women’s golf, 1899

Posted on November 26, 2021 by editor

“A crowd of young society women in 1899 shocked the conventions of the day by reckless indulgence in a game called golf,” the Illinois State Journal recalled in 1931. Most of that sentence was nonsense. There’s no evidence anyone was … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Media, Parks, Photos and photosets, Prominent figures, Social life, Sports and recreation, Women | Leave a comment

‘The Story of the House,’ by Alice Bunn

Posted on November 15, 2021 by editor

Alice Bunn (1867-1953) was born and died in the spacious home at 435 S. Sixth St. that was built by her father, Jacob Bunn, in the 1850s. The house was torn down for a parking lot in July 1953, a … Continue reading →

Posted in Amusements, Architecture, Buildings, Children, Early residents, Family life, Histories, Prominent figures, Social life, Women | 2 Comments

‘Bird Lady’: A Lithuanian immigrant mother’s life in Springfield

Posted on August 3, 2021 by editor

On the day in 1912 when 16-year-old Mary Ann Yezdauskas arrived in Springfield from Lithuania, her brother took her to the elegant Bressmer’s Department Store to buy a new coat. Then the sister and brother posed together in their finery … Continue reading →

Posted in Coal mines and mining, Family life, Lithuanians, Lithuanians, Women | 9 Comments

Savillah Hinrichsen, librarian and suffragist

Posted on June 12, 2021 by editor

When William “Buck” Hinrichsen took office as Illinois secretary of state in 1893, he appointed his sister, Savillah Hinrichsen, as assistant state librarian. The term “assistant,” however, was misleading – the secretary of state is also titularly the state librarian, … Continue reading →

Posted in Arts and letters, Prominent figures, State government, Women | Leave a comment

First women jurors

Posted on May 27, 2021 by editor

In January 1931, Grace Dye of Williamsville became the first woman eligible for jury duty in Sangamon County. But it would take eight years for most other women to enjoy the same right. The hiatus was thanks to the Illinois … Continue reading →

Posted in Law enforcement, Local government, State government, Women | 1 Comment

‘Horner Highway’ and highway beautification, 1934

Posted on December 26, 2020 by editor

The Horner Highway north of Springfield was one of the first examples of natural highway beautification in the nation. Horner Highway, named after Gov. Henry Horner, ran along today’s Illinois 29 from Springfield to the junction with today’s Illinois 123 … Continue reading →

Posted in Lincoln, Abraham, Markers, State government, Transportation, Uncategorized, Women | 3 Comments

Luann McDaniel, Valley Forge nurse

Posted on September 27, 2020 by editor

Of more than 50 Revolutionary War veterans thought to be buried in Sangamon County, Luann McDaniel is the only woman. According to family tradition, McDaniel (1759-1850) acted as a nurse at Valley Forge during the winter of 1777-78. Her husband, … Continue reading →

Posted in Early residents, Markers, Military, Women | Leave a comment

Abortion murder trials, 1894

Posted on September 7, 2020 by editor

Was a Springfield doctor guilty of killing two women via botched abortions in 1893? Juries said no, but newspaper editorial writers disagreed. And despite the acquittals of Dr. John H. Lawrence, the boyfriend of one of the women was convicted … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime and vice, Medicine, Women | Leave a comment