In honor of Women’s History Month, we interviewed a Peoria woman who has spent years researching and writing about the amazing women who have graced central Illinois.

Channy Lyons is known throughout the Peoria area for her work in the arts and her many publications dealing with women’s history. But, she didn’t initially have the chance to follow her dreams of writing for a living.

“I always wanted to be a writer...or a diplomat in the Foreign Service,” Lyons said. “Instead I became a computer programmer, then a systems analyst, finally a supervisor of programmers and analysts and eventually senior vice president of a company who depended on a strong department of computer savvy people, who could write code or interpret it to clients. The writing I did was reportage, analytical and factual. The diplomacy I used to bring people together to solve business problems.”

Lyons was born in New York City and grew up in Westchester County along the Hudson River. She then moved to the Chicago suburbs. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a Bachelor’s degree in political science, and later received an MBA from the University of Illinois and more recently an MA in English from Bradley University.

“I worked in Chicago for a number of years before moving to Peoria where I was part of the four-person management team that helped Tom Lund form Customer Development Corporation,” Lyons said. “After the launch and the first decade of growth at CDC, I left to do what I always wanted to do—write.”

Lyons has written five books, six scripts and countless local and regional newspaper and magazine feature stories as well as art reviews. She also started Wilde Press, a book design and production firm with special interests in art, nature, and community and personal history.

“I write because writing is a way to think more clearly, to organize and structure what I’ve learned,” Lyons said. “It requires hard work and persistence. I write, too, because it is a creative act. Writer Brenda Ueland said, ‘there is something life-giving about creative work. There is nothing that makes people so generous, joyful, lively, bold and compassionate, so indifferent to fighting and the accumulation of objects and money.’”

Both Lyons’ mother and grandmother were artists. The first book that Lyons put together for publication was actually a compilation of sketches that her grandmother made while on a trip to Europe in 1952.

“I loved the experience,” Lyons said. “That’s when I started Wilde Press and began designing books—my own and for other people. A second book about my grandmother (called Verda and Me) began as a series of articles about the creative activities we did together. It is both memoir and art guide.”

However, Lyons didn’t just jump into writing. If she was going to venture into the field, she wanted to do it to the best of her ability.

“I knew something about art, but not how to write about it,” Lyons said. “I studied articles written by established reviewers, read what ‘how-to’s’ I could find, and I practiced. I worked at it. I tried to write reviews that would make readers curious enough to see the exhibit. One thing led to another. Soon I was writing reviews for Chicago’s New Art Examiner.”

As she ventured further into writing, Lyons discovered an interest in writing profiles, especially those about influential women.

“I was researching and writing about women in Peoria’s history for the newspaper,” Lyons said. “So few of their stories had been told. What remarkable women these early Peoria women were—smart, courageous, resilient, generous. They made a place for themselves through their talent or experience, or simply by being twice as good and working twice as hard. Their experiences and perspectives needed to be added back into history. I searched for women who participated in and contributed to bettering our community.”

The product of this research was compiled into a book called Women of Peoria, 1620 to 1920. The book includes the stories of Frances Brotherson, Lucie Tyng, Clara Parsons Bourland and Lydia Bradley—all women who had lasting effects on the central Illinois area. Lyons feels that women need other women to look up to, and wanted to bring the stories of these amazing women to life.

“Women need mentors,” Lyons said. “They need wise women to learn from, to emulate, to take courage from. My mother was mine and still is. I’ve found others as well. Dorothy Fry, for example, who celebrated her 90th birthday by publishing a collection of her poetry, prose and artwork. The women I’ve found in Peoria history inspire and encourage me as well.”

When she takes on a project, Lyons also looks for the chance to supplement it with an event or activity. “One of the important things for me is to make sure that each book is accompanied by an activity,” Lyons said. “Women of Peoria led to the idea of doing a style show featuring Peoria’s contemporary women playing the roles of the city’s historical women. The biennial show is put on by the Peoria Historical Society. Our third event will be held in November 2007 with all new characters, stories and costumes. The book is also used in high school and ICC classes.”

Verda and Me led to creativity classes for women and their granddaughters. Another book Peoria Women Artists through 1970 is about 60 female artists and the art organizations they founded. It began as an art exhibit Lyons curated at the Peoria Art Guild in 2005. Lyons volunteers with a number of groups in the area, but admits that she won’t donate her time to just any organization. “I volunteer for organizations I believe in,” Lyons said. “Sommer Park’s living history farm, for example. A few years ago, we put on the Koerner Wedding Celebration. We invited the community to be guests at the 1860 wedding of David and Louisa Koerner. Actors took on roles of the bride and groom and their families and friends. After the wedding, cake and punch was served and actors and guests danced Virginia reels and played 19th century games.”

Lyons has many projects lined up including a book and exhibit of Illinois’ female artists, collectors and art organizers who lived and worked in cities and rural communities outside Chicago before 1940.

“I also research and prepare house histories for clients and, the Peoria Art Guild,” Lyons said. “In May, I’ll curate an exhibit at the Peoria Art Guild called Peoria Women Collectors of Works by Women Artists. The collectors are being asked to describe why they like the work they are lending us, and what continues to engage them about it. Their comments will be posted alongside the artwork. What a wonderful gift for Peoria women to share their works with our community.”

Recently, Lyons wrote the essay for Lakeview Museum’s book on Peoria landscape painter Hedley Waycott, which was introduced at the museum’s exhibition of his work.

So what does the future hold for Lyons? “I’m always searching for additional opportunities like that—to write about art, and women’s history, and to curate exhibits,” Lyons said. “I think my husband and I will take a few days off, too. But, most importantly, I always want to learn to be a better writer.” tpw

“Peoria Women Collect Works by Women Artists” is an exhibition of 70 favorite original artworks created by women artists and collected by Peoria women. The purpose of the exhibit is to show a variety of cherished woman-made artworks that we might not see otherwise, and to read the collectors’ comments that tell how the works enrich their lives. Sponsored by The Peoria Woman magazine and the Women’s Fund, the exhibit opens at the Peoria Art Guild with a reception on May 18 and runs through June 30th. Programs and workshops about women, art and collecting will be offered during the exhibit.