Myra Bradwell: First Woman Admitted to Illinois Bar

Photograph of Myra Bradwell, dated 1870

March is Women’s History Month! We will be celebrating all month long by highlighting some of our favorite inspiring women in Illinois history.


Throughout her life Myra Colby Bradwell was a progressive and tireless advocate for women’s rights. She was born in Manchester, Vermont on February 12, 1831 to parents who were active abolitionists. She grew up in Vermont and New York, and at the age of 12 she and her family moved to Schaumburg Township, Illinois. Myra attended a finishing school in Kenosha, Wisconsin and then a ladies’ seminary in Elgin, Illinois. In 1851, she began a career as a school teacher.… Read More

Labor Activism in Chicago: Elizabeth Chambers Morgan

Photograph of Elizabeth C. Morgan in an 1895 newspaper

March is Women’s History Month! We will be celebrating all month long by highlighting some of our favorite inspiring women in Illinois history.


Abolish the sweat-shops; Arise in your might. We women demand it! By all that is right, By all that is sacred, By all that is just, We urge you go forward; In you is our trust.

The Sweater’s Lament, by Elizabeth Chambers Morgan

Elizabeth Chambers Morgan is one of the inspiring women in Illinois you can learn about here at the Illinois History and Lincoln Collections. She was one of the leading activists and social reformers in the Chicago labor movement during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.… Read More