Bernice Van der Vries, unfamiliar to most Winnetkans today, is one of the Village’s unsung heroes. When she retired from the Illinois House of Representatives in 1955, journalists described her as “the cornerstone of good government” and “one of the hardest working and best known members of the legislature.” She was born in Kansas in […]
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Jungle Gym Turns 100
2023 marks 100 years since the patent was approved for the very first jungle gym invented by Winnetkan, Sebastian Hinton. Over the last century, the jungle gym’s popularity and reach are practically impossible to calculate. Nearly every child across the world has climbed on, crawled under, or fell off a jungle gym. The very first […]
From Fixer-Upper to Community Treasure:
by Joan Evanich The 1830s Schmidt Burnham Log House sat proudly at its new site on May 6, 2003. The move that day was an exhilarating success, but this was no time for WHS to rest on its laurels. The real work was about to begin in the pursuit to open the longest continuously occupied […]
WHS Will Miss Longtime Board Member
Appeared in the Spring/Summer 2023 Gazette by Helen Weaver After almost 20 years playing a variety of key roles longtime Winnetka Historical Society Board Member Christine Murdoch has hung up her WHS hat and retired from the board. Christine joined WHS in 2004, after the Schmidt Burnham Log House’s move to the Crow Island woods, […]
Few but Mighty: Women Village Presidents
Appeared in the Spring/Summer 2023 Gazette by Nan Greenough Starting in 1915 – two years after Illinois passed women’s voting, but five years before the 19th Amendment – each Winnetka Village Council included at least one woman trustee. In 1980 Gwen Trindl broke the glass ceiling to become the first woman Village President. Gwen was […]
Winnetka Woman’s Club: Decades of Giving Generously and Connecting Villagers
Appeared in the Spring/Summer 2023 Gazette by Holly Marihugh Dr. Alice Barlow Brown opened her door to host the first meeting of the Winnetka Woman’s Club on January 23, 1908, and only nine other women were present at the brand spanking new club. Dr. Barlow Brown went on to rescue and treat civilians in war-torn […]
Fortune, Corruption, and Sham Mansions: The Story of E. Ashley Mears
Appeared in the Spring/Summer 2023 Gazette by Meagan McChesney, WHS curator After the Great Chicago Fire destroyed much of Chicago in 1871, thousands of urbanites flocked to the North Shore looking for a fresh start. While many saw this population boom as an opportunity to expand Winnetka’s tight-knit community, others sought ways to take advantage […]
Log House Celebrates 20 Years in Crow Island Park
Appeared in the Spring Summer 2023 Gazette by Joan Evanich It is hard to believe that the Schmidt-Burnham Log House moved to Crow Island Park 20 years ago this May. Surprisingly, it was not the first time the almost 200-year-old house was moved! The hand-hewn house originally was located at the current site of the […]
The Village Doctor
Originally appeared in the Fall/Winter 2022 Gazette by Meagan McChesney, PhD – WHS Curator While conducting research for the latest Explore Winnetka Stories feature on Winnetka’s earliest businesses, I happened upon a c. 1885 business card for Winnetka-based “Homoeopathist and Surgeon,” G. H. Morrison, M. D. Intrigued, I ran a search of Morrison’s name and […]
“We Can Take It!”: The Civilian Conservation Corps and the Creation of the Skokie Lagoons
Originally appeared in the Fall/Winter 2022 Gazette by Duff Peterson To see a gallery of photos related to this article, click HERE. On March 15, 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt announced a plan for the federal government to hire unemployed young men to do conservation work on the nation’s public lands. Known as the Civilian […]