Volume 11, No. 1 – January 2026 | | |
In this issue:
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Bread and Salt Performed at Printers Row
- Remembering Rebecca Sive
- Film on Suffragists Mural
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Plus: Save the dates!
Saturday, January 31, 2026: Elizabeth Todd-Breland, co-author with the late Karen Lewis of I Didn't Come Here to Lie: My Life and Education, at Call & Response Books, 1390 E. Hyde Park Blvd, 2:00 pm
Saturday, March 28, 2026: "Honoring Marty Goddard, Pioneer in Combatting Sexual Violence," at Jane Addams Hull-House, 800 S. Halsted, 10:30 am
More info on both events will be forthcoming.
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Bread and Salt Performed at Printers Row Lit Fest
By Alma Washington
This year (2025) is the 40th Anniversary of the Printers Row Lit Fest. On the Center Stage, located between Polk and Harrison Streets, the Perennial Theatre Chicago presented Bread and Salt, a compilation of short stories, poetry, and music by Carl Sandburg, set against the backdrop of early 20th-Century Chicago. Adapted by Charles Gerace and directed by Robert Brueler, the work featured characters voiced by Gerald Bailey, John Green, Molly Burns, Brigid Duffy, Suzanne Petri and Alma Washington.
The festival brought back happy memories. Years ago, I attended annually. A friend of mine, Franklin Rosemont, writer and historian with the Charles H. Kerr Publishing Company, as always, had a table. One of the books on the table was titled Lucy Parsons: Freedom Equality and Solidarity which included selected writings by Lucy Parsons. Franklin was a contributor and dedicated the book to me. When I opened it and saw my picture with the words he had written, I was very moved. What an honor.
The Printers Row Lit Fest was very successful. The audience enjoyed the Bread and Salt performance. Many expressed that the event was among the best Lit Fests in memory. I just wish my friend Franklin could have been there; he would have loved it.
Alma Washington, and Brigid Duffy, are respectively, board member and board member emerita of Working Women’s History Project.
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Rebecca Sive: In Memoriam
January 29, 1950 – July 15, 2025
By Jackie Kirley
In 2025, Chicago lost a political activist who had a “deep passion for social justice and civil rights.” Toni Preckwinkle wrote, “Rebecca dedicated her life to advancing women’s rights and worked tirelessly to help women win elected office.” Rebecca also worked tirelessly to get Harold Washington elected mayor of Chicago.
Rebecca’s interest in social justice began early. A story told at her November 8th Memorial at the Newberry Library came from a Carleton College classmate. Early in their college careers, after a late-night chat, they decided that they should take the president of the college out to lunch. The next day they appeared at his office with that request—to the astonishment of the President’s secretary—and he went! At the lunch, they presented to him all the things they thought Carleton could improve upon. One was that Carleton’s health services needed a gynecologist who would be comfortable speaking to female students about menstruation and other female issues. Before they graduated, Mayo Clinic sent a gynecologist once a week to Carleton.
| | Photo Credit: Jackie Kirley from memorial booklet | | Rebecca’s leadership in women’s issues was practical. She co-founded and led the Midwest Women’s Center (MWC) in the 1980s, which published the Women’s Directory, a guide to services of concern to women. Under her leadership, MWC focused on employment training for women, especially in jobs not previously open to them. She wrote and received grants from both the City and State for MWC. (Rebecca was known to be a very good fundraiser.) She joined the board of the National Abortion Rights Action League and was a founding board member of the Chicago Foundation for Women. | | |
Rebecca’s support of Harold Washington began early. When he asked her to support his run for mayor, she became co-chair of the Women’s Network for Washington along with Addie Wyatt, Rev. Willie Barrow, and Nancy Jefferson. At the time, she was working for the Playboy Foundation, which supported her work for Washington. High level staff even worked with Rebecca to fundraise for his bid for mayor.
Mayor Washington appointed Rebecca to the Chicago Park District board, where she became chair of the Finance Committee. Governor Jim Thompson appointed her to the Illinois Human Rights Commission. From serving on state and city boards, Rebecca learned the workings of government, knowledge that she used to advise women politicians and candidates seeking leadership roles. She taught courses in women and public leadership at the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy as well as at other institutions and wrote three practical guides, the first of which was Every Day is Election Day: A Woman’s Guide to Winning Any Office, from the PTA to the White House.
Rebecca and her husband, Steve Tomashefsky, loved Chicago blues and gospel music, one of the reasons they came to Chicago. She also collected American studio ceramics, mostly by women, donating parts of the collection to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and to the Smithsonian Institution. Her final passion was gardening at their huge property in Southwest Michigan. When Rebecca took a project on, whether for social justice or for private enjoyment, she did it BIG.
In September of 2023, Rebecca suffered a massive stroke that left her in a coma for several weeks. She fought back to the point of being able to communicate. Her husband plus wonderful caregivers cared for her until her death.
Jackie Kirley is a vice president of Working Women’s History Project.
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On the Wings of Change
By Sue Straus
On Saturday, September 6, 2025, Chicago Women’s History Center celebrated Jane Addams’ birthday with a program featuring a film by members Rana Segal and Laurie Little: “On the Wings of Change: The Chicago Suffrage Mural,” which follows the creation of the mural on a building at 33 East Ida B. Wells Drive.
The film, which is still in production stage, looks at the journey of artist Diosa (Jasmina Cazacu), and the committee working on the mural. In the film, they discussed how many women to represent in the mural, who would be included, and the artist’s vision.
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Prior to viewing the film, historian Louise Knight spoke on Jane Addams as the center of the women of the mural, and how they interconnected.
The mural shows at the bottom a fifteen-year-old girl with her braids acting as a frame for the women. The ten women are Mary Fitzbutler Waring, Mary Livermore, Myra Bradwell, Francis E. Willard, Catherine Waugh McCulloch, Ida B. Wells, Jane Addams, Fannie Barrier Williams, Grace Wilbur Trout, and Agnes Nestor. Birds, as angels fill the work.
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After the screening, a panel followed with an artist and the two filmmakers. Further discussion on the negotiations was needed to get a permit to produce the artwork of the mural. “On the Wings of Change” is one of three works using the concept of women's suffrage and participation in the political process. The other two are “I’m Speaking,” and “Votes for Women.”
Cakes were cut, celebrating the birthdays of Jane Addams and CWHC’s Vice President, Xyla Gatilao.
As we left, the “No Troops” demonstration was kicking off across the street on Michigan Avenue.
Sue Straus is a vice president of Working Women’s History Project.
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