Appeared in the Fall/Winter 2024 Gazette
By Holly Marihugh

Joan Evanich on the front stairs of the Schmist-Burnham Log House, 2021.

It was 1993, and Joan Evanich had just moved with her family into a historic Howard Van Doren Shaw house on Bryant Avenue. The 1909 house needed extensive restoration, and Evanich knew she had a tall order on her hands.
“I walked into the Winnetka Historical Society for the first time when it was at Skokie School, just to research my house,” Evanich says, “and I became really interested in the whole place.”

The Winnetka Historical Society (WHS) hit the jackpot that day because Joan Evanich became one of the most forward-thinking, wise, and generous board members—a true leader of a lifetime—the organization has ever had.
Now, following a career that has lasted over 30 years with WHS, Evanich retired in July 2024. She took on many roles including Museum and Log House Director, Board President, Vice President, Secretary, Program Chair, Gazette Editor, and Gala Chair.

When Evanich looks in the rearview mirror and thinks about what makes her most satisfied about her time at WHS, she says, “I’m really proud of having been a part of creating the first permanent home for the historical society. We didn’t have a place that we could call our own.”

Evanich is referring to the c. 1859 headquarters and museum that WHS owns at 411 Linden Street, which she secured during her tenure as Executive Director. She recruited volunteer fundraising experts from the community and spearheaded a successful $2 million capital campaign in the early 2000s and then bought the first building to officially house the nonprofit.

Another crowning achievement for Evanich was acquiring the Schmidt-Burnham Log House and moving it—along with a team of board members and supporters—from Tower Road to its current permanent home in Crow Island Woods.

Joan Evanich in front of the Schmidt-Burnham Log House on moving day, 2003.

“It was one of the highlights of my life because I’d never really done anything like that before,” Evanich says. “It was so much fun trying to figure it out. We got a lot of advice from different experts all over the country and then started fundraising.”

True to character, Evanich shares the spotlight with others. “We had real talent on the board, including professional people who could steer us in the right direction, and several had good contacts for fundraising. It was a great project!” she says.

As Evanich looks over the wide prairie of Winnetka history that she educated our community about, three outstanding features stick in her mind. The first is Carleton Washburne’s “Winnetka Plan,” which was his nationally recognized educational plan for elementary school students.

Joan Evanich teaches Washburne students about the Cenotaph, c. 2002.

“Winnetka teaches to the individual child,” Evanich says. “I believe it works really well. It gives kids a lot of independence and real participation in their own education. It teaches children to love learning.”

The second is Winnetka’s form of government begun in 1915. It includes a permanent Village Manager working with an elected President and six Trustees, along with a Caucus Council of up to 68 citizen volunteers, and more than 50 additional volunteers appointed to Village boards and commissions.

“Winnetka recruits residents for Village boards, and there is open communication between Winnetka citizens and their elected leaders,” Evanich says. “At the time that it started happening here, it wasn’t that common anywhere else. As a result, you have people who really care about what affects the Village because they’re living in it.”
Third and last, Evanich thinks the massive 1930s Civilian Conservation Corps project creating the Skokie Lagoons, as well as the 1938-45 “Big Ditch” project to lower the railroad tracks that slice through Winnetka, are two jewels in local history.

“Both projects created jobs and improved the lives and safety of our citizens,” Evanich says.

Looking ahead, Evanich believes that the greatest opportunity for WHS is to continue expanding local history’s outreach beyond our Village.

“We have the opportunity to share Winnetka’s history with residents throughout the North Shore,” Evanich says. “We currently do that through the Schmidt-Burnham Log House, our YouTube movie about the history of the North Shore, and by offering historical research.”

The biggest challenge for WHS, according to Evanich, is financial because the nonprofit is primarily funded by donations.

“It’s getting enough awareness out there to make sure that people know what we’re doing and support us financially because we don’t receive tax funding from the Village,” Evanich says. “However, through successful fundraising we’re able to bring in enough funds to support a fantastic professional staff.”

In the end, Winnetkans have always stepped up to the plate and participated in their community, Evanich believes.
“People are involved in their schools, their churches, in their local government, and that makes us stronger,” Evanich says. “You might not always agree with each other, but, all in all, we work together. We figure out what’s best for the Village, and I think we always have.” ■