March is Women's History Month. This year the Ridge Historical Society salutes Gertrude Blackwelder, a remarkable woman who lived during the Progressive Era and worked tirelessly for women's suffrage and education reform. Mrs. Blackwelder made history by being the first woman to cast a vote in Cook County when women won expanded voting rights in 1913.
Gertrude and her husband, I.S. Blackwelder, were early settlers in Morgan Park, where I.S. served as president of the Village Board. Gertrude co-founded the Morgan Park Woman's Club in 1889, the oldest such club still in existence in Chicago. The Blackwelders were instrumental in establishing the Morgan Park High School, which opened in 1916. Their house is one of the most famous historical residences in the neighborhood – the Ingersoll-Blackwelder-Simmerling House on Prospect.
We've just entered a major feature on Mrs. Blackwelder on the RHS website so go here for more information: www.ridgehistorical.org.
Pictures: Mrs. Blackwelder voting, from the Chicago Tribune in 1913.
The Ingersoll-Blackwelder House as it appeared when the Blackwelders lived there – RHS archives.