For the Frances Willard House Museum's first Collection Close-Up, Fiona Maxwell (Willard House Director of Museum Operations and Communications; University of Chicago History PhD candidate) will share the story behind Frances Willard's first major writing endeavor – Rupert Melville and His Comrades: A Story of Adventure.

Inspired by story books set on the Western prairies, as a young teen Willard worked on her novel every day and "read each chapter aloud" to her friends and family "as fast as it was written." The enjoyment Willard derived from narrating Rupert's adventures convinced her that "write I could and should and would." The WCTU Archives houses the 165-page unfinished manuscript.

Please RSVP below for Sunday, November 20 at 4pm Central Time. A Zoom link will be sent shortly before the event to everyone who registers.

Collection Close-Ups are part of the Knowledge is Power: Women and Education program series, which uncovers the history – and the prehistory – of women’s higher education in Evanston. You can learn more about Willard's early growth as a writer on our blog.