Anita Willets-Burnham
Well-known to Winnetkans as a longtime resident of the Schmidt-Burnham Log House, Anita Willets-Burnham was an exceptional woman and artist who wore many hats throughout her life. In addition to writing the quirky travel book Round the World on a Penny, Anita was a talented artist who studied, taught, and exhibited at several notable galleries, including the Art Institute of Chicago. Learn more HERE!
To read more about Anita’s family, travels, artistic endeavors, and one-of-a-kind character, CLICK HERE!
Anita Willets-Burnham, c. 1940.
Our Log House by Anita Willets-Burnham, 1917.
Olive Beaupré Miller
Are you a “Bookhouse baby”? For the thousands of Americans who answer “yes,” Olive Beaupré Miller likely needs little introduction. While best-known for her ever-popular Bookhouse series, Olive published a variety of poems and stories throughout her life. Learn more about Olive’s interesting upbringing, her creative writing process, and how she founded a publishing company that, even in the 1920s, employed a predominantly female staff. Learn more HERE!
Collection of books by Olive Beaupre Miller.
Image of Olive Beaupre Miller, 1898.
Pauline Dohn Rudolph
Growing up in a house full of artists, Pauline Dohn Rudolph was destined to follow suit. At only 13 years old, Pauline started her artistic career as a student at the Art Institute of Chicago. Just one decade after graduating, she made history when she exhibited an oil painting in the Fine Arts Palace at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. Learn more about Pauline’s art and why the Chicago Tribune named her “one of the best-known of the women artists of the West.” READ HERE!
Portrait of Pauline Dohn Rudolph, 1925.
The Seeker: I Sent My Soul Through the Invisible by Pauline Dohn Rudolph, 1897.
Marion Mahony Griffin
Marion Mahony Griffin is known worldwide as the first American licensed female architect. Marion started her career working with Frank Lloyd Wright and is considered one of the original Prairie School architects. She later went on to marry and work alongside famed architect and fellow alum of Wright’s studio, Walter Burley Griffin. Learn more Marion’s exceptional and groundbreaking career. CLICK HERE!
Watercolor rendering of the plans for Canberra by Marion Mahony Griffin, 1911. Credit: National Archives Australia.
Image of Marion Mahony Griffin, undated. Credit: New York Historical Society.
Photo Gallery: Winnetka Women in the Arts
To scroll through a photo gallery of these incredible women’s lives and work, CLICK HERE!