Tag: Dorothy Vann

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Celebrating Women’s History in IDHH Collections

The IDHH contains some content that may be harmful or difficult to view. Our cultural heritage partners collect materials from history, as well as artifacts from many cultures and time periods, to preserve and make available the historical record. Please view the Digital Public Library of America’s (DPLA) Statement on Potentially Harmful Content for further information.

In recognition of Women’s History Month, the IDHH would like to highlight several collections from our contributors and curated searches of IDHH items that tell different stories about the history of women in Illinois:

    • Jane Addams: explore photographs and documents related to Jane Addams, social reformer, and settlement and women’s suffrage activist, who co-founded Chicago-settlement Hull House in 1889 and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931.
    • Gwendolyn Brooks: explore photographs related to Gwendolyn Brooks, Poet Laureate of Illinois and the first African American poet to win the Pulitzer Prize.
    • The Creative Woman (Governors State University): a collection containing issues of GSU’s quarterly feminist journal The Creative Woman,  which featured articles, essays, and creative writings on the lives and experiences of women.
    • The Woman’s Study Club of Joliet (Lewis University): a collection containing documents and records of the Women’s Study Club of Joliet, a club with the goal of educating women members which grew from the Columbian Clubs and The Woman’s Building organized by Bertha Palmer for the 1893 Chicago World’s Columbian Exposition.

You can also visit the IDHH’s Digital Exhibits to learn about the life and career of two turn-of-the-twentieth-century Illinois women: Rachel Crothers, a playwright from Bloomington, Illinois, and Fanny Butcher,  Literary Editor at the Chicago Tribune.

You can also view the IDHH’s previous posts with topics related to Women’s History Month:

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Voices from History: Dorothy Vann Collection of Oral Histories

For our second post in the month of October, the IDHH would like to feature the audio recordings of the Dorothy Vann Collection of Oral Histories. Created by amateur historian Dorothy Vann in the 1970s and 1980s, these recordings document the history of the North Park neighborhood in Chicago and the Swedish immigrants who called the area home beginning in the late nineteenth century. Topics include family and community history in the North Park neighborhood, campus life at North Park University, and the influence of the Evangelical Covenant Church in the area. The recordings highlight a range of members from the community such as a former North Park University librarian, an individual associated with the Manhattan Project, and two sisters who were ballet dancers with the Chicago Civic Opera Company.  

Dorothy Vann’s oral histories are part of the Evangelical Covenant Church and North Park University Archives Repository located at North Park University in Chicago. Founded by the Swedish Evangelical Covenant Church in 1891, North Park University quickly became an educational and religious hub for Swedish immigrants on Chicago’s North Side, offering theological education and boasting a location close to the nearby Swedish Covenant Hospital. Vann’s recordings provide a distinctive lens on this historical period, as the project lead and most of the interview subjects are women.

Want to discover more? 

Browse the full Dorothy Vann Collection of Oral Histories, or browse all items from North Park University.  

Visit the IDHH to explore even more oral history recordings and collections.