Catharine Waugh McCulloch

Catharine Waugh McCulloch was born in 1862 in New York and came to Illinois as a child. She grew up near Rockford where she attended Rockford Female Seminary and then received her law degree from Union College of Law in Chicago in 1886. She married Frank McCulloch and moved to Evanston in 1890. 

Catharine Waugh McCulloch adopted the city as her home and worked hard to further the push for women's suffrage in the State of Illinois and throughout the country. Her chosen profession as a lawyer allowed her the unique opportunity to fight for women's rights through the legal system; she was recognized for her skill as a lawyer on the state and local level various times. McCulloch's talents as a writer also convinced her readers to support women's suffrage. Through her arguments in the courtroom and on the printed page, McCulloch significantly contributed to the women's suffrage movement both in Illinois and throughout the United States. 

Note: Catharine Waugh McCulloch's papers are primarily held at the Schlesinger Library. You can see one highlight from the collection on their Suffrage School series - a suffrage game that McCulloch created and was evidently played by her and friends that visited her home. Scroll through and find the document and video lesson by Tania Shew at this link - https://www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/suffrage-school#keyes