Women have played key roles in Peoria’s colorful history, so what better organization to honor those contributions than the Peoria Historical Society? The PHS hosts its first Salute To Women, "From buckskin to bustles and beyond: Peoria’s style through the centuries," beginning at 11 a.m., November 1, at the Scottish Rite Cathedral.

Event co-chair Amy Kelly said the road to this event began more than a year ago, when she was recruited by PHS Executive Director Kathy Belsley to serve as chair of a new event focused on women. "At that time, neither of us knew exactly what we wanted to do, so we researched events in other communities. Nothing really excited us. We didn’t find much more than some tired ideas that didn’t have any relevance to Peoria-certainly nothing that celebrated Peoria’s incredibly unique and colorful past. We even talked a little about a historical style show, but at that stage we were stumped by two problems. A historical style show alone didn’t seem very connected to Peoria’s history, and we couldn’t really foresee a life for the event beyond one year. So we just went into a holding pattern for a while."

Around the same time, PHS volunteer Channy Lyons approached Belsley for advice about a book she was working on. "At that time, her book had a different format, so we still didn’t connect the dots," Kelly said. "Several months later, Channy consulted Kathy again. By that time, her book was in its current format."

That book, Women of Peoria, 1620 to 1920, is a collection of stories about some of the remarkable women in Peoria’s history whose achievements, courage, and talents have contributed to the creation and development of our community, Lyons said. And it was this idea that sparked another great idea. "During a meeting, Channy asked Kathy the key question, ’Is there any way this information could be useful to the Peoria Historical Society?’ Without knowing how specifically, Kathy said it could be the basis of the women’s event she and I had been trying to create. So the three of us had lunch together to discuss ideas," Kelly said.

Lyons became co-chair for the yet-to-be-determined event, and the three women developed a set of criteria the new event would have to fulfill. "First, it had to be specifically about Peoria. It had to honor and focus on women. It had to have a life beyond one year. And it had to be unique. We quickly settled on a historical style show based on the women in Channy’s book," Kelly said. "These women have great stories. Some, like Lydia Moss Bradley, are well known. Others, though not as well known, are truly fascinating. As we chronologically trace Peoria’s history through the lives of these women, we can also illustrate a broader idea-the interplay between how changes in fashion impacted women’s lives and how changes in women’s lives impacted fashion."

Once they developed the concept, they realized they could vary the theme from year to year and make it an annual event, she said. "Future years could highlight hats and hairstyles, in the past a critical component of a women’s wardrobe. We could also feature swimwear, wedding dresses, or sporting attire. We’ve already talked about women in the military as a strong candidate for next year’s theme."

Next up for discussion was whom to call on for modeling duty. "In keeping with the concept of celebrating women’s contributions, we figured out another way to honor women. We selected models who are well known contemporary women-women who serve the Peoria area as both volunteers and professionals. We have a wonderful group of models from a cross-section of our community. They represent our diversity and strength," Kelly said. 

She said the volunteers for this event, including major sponsor Mrs. Tom Foster, have been remarkable-particularly the seamstresses. "Ann Marie Dunn, costume director at both ICC and Opera Illinois, is coordinating the creation of the historical costumes. She researched for historical accuracy, in both the pattern and the fabric. Then she supervised the work of a team of volunteer seamstresses. Without their generous gifts of time and talent, we couldn’t produce such a unique event."

Though happy with their idea so far, they weren’t satisfied with the historical style show as the total package. Kelly said the group reviewed the PHS mission, "to preserve and celebrate Peoria’s story," and decided to include a historical luncheon and create the Guardian Award. "We created the Guardian Award to recognize a woman in the tri-county area who’s made a significant contribution to the preservation of local history. This year, Kenyon & Associates Inc., well known for its dedication to historic preservation, has generously sponsored the Guardian Award. We need to recognize the valuable contributions to the preservation of local history made by women. So we think the event and the award go perfectly hand in hand. Like the Salute To Women, the Guardian Award will continue annually in the future."

To answer the question of what our grandmothers and great-grandmothers cooked for a luncheon, Kelly researched authentic menus from historical cookbooks. "I discovered the food our ancestors served was as different as the clothes they wore. For example, luncheon menus often included oysters, lamb chops, pork chops, and croquettes of every kind-salmon croquettes, chicken croquettes, vegetable croquettes, and potato croquettes. I also discovered Charlotte Russe was the favored dessert of the late 1800s, so that’s what we’ll serve at the event. Although we’ll base the luncheon on authentic historical menus, we’ve decided to adapt the recipes to please contemporary tastes."

The Salute To Women, a fundraiser for PHS programs, will itself be re-tooled into an educational program, said Belsley. "We’re working to re-structure the event into an educational program we can take to women’s school, church, and community groups. Through clothing, the project will describe the lives and lifestyles of real women from our past, and through their stories, indirectly, we’ll tell the history of Peoria. Amy, a former teacher with experience in elementary and gifted education, will be the liaison from the event steering committee to the educational steering committee. We’ve also recruited two Peoria area teachers to develop the project with her."

Of course the book that sparked the idea is an important part of the Salute To Women, as well, and Lyons said she hopes to have it published in time to be available for the event.

Lyons, who’s written many profiles for local and regional publications, became interested in the subject while preparing a story series to celebrate Women’s History Month. "These women opened doors so that today we can participate in community, business, social, and cultural affairs. They were smart, courageous, resilient, resourceful, and generous. They got things done. Because of them, we have greater access to the broad range of human experience."

She said her interest was also peaked because of her own 30 years of experience working in the business world in Chicago and Peoria. "I was often the only woman in the computer programming department or the only woman in management. What I find in looking back at Peoria’s women is they found ways around stereotypes, and they made a place for themselves with hard work, imagination, and innovation."

As anyone who’s tried to research female ancestors knows, tracking facts about women isn’t easy, Lyons said. "You use what you can find. There are wonderful resources in town-especially our reference librarians, historians, women who are working on their own research projects, and folks who remember something about their grandmother’s life. More information about women like Lydia Moss Bradley, Clara Parsons Bourland, Julia Proctor White, and Lucie Tyng has been saved. Still, it’s like unraveling a mystery when you try to connect data-or come upon something completely unexpected."

Despite the difficulty, the list of women’s accomplishments she dug up was amazing, Lyons said. "Among other things, we know the women of Peoria ran the city’s first hotels, saved the lives of 400 men at Camp Butler during the Civil War, formed what was to become the second oldest women’s literary organization in Illinois, originated homes for needy women and children and for the aged, aided runaway slaves, started a university, wrote nationally recognized poetry, took their husbands’ and fathers’ places in factory and office jobs during World War I, became leaders in the women’s national suffrage movement, opened two major regional hospitals, and started an arts organization that’s flourished for 125 years."

Lyons said her goal with Women of Peoria, 1620 to 1920 is to prove that what women do-and did-matters. "I hope people will get to know these women of Peoria and the book will be used in creating living history vignettes and historical plays, art exhibits, panel discussions, and school assignments. I hope to keep what I’ve been calling the ’Peoria women’s history project’ going. A Web site (www.peoriawomenshistory.com) will be up this fall. I invite women to share their stories-and their mother’s and grandmother’s too-by adding them to the site. It will make our history richer to hear their voices."

Though some may wonder why fashion was selected as a vehicle to celebrate women, Kelly said it was the obvious choice. "We believed style was an important part of women’s history to highlight because, in many ways, it symbolizes the important changes in the lives and roles of women. Our event underscores the progress women have made in assuming a broader role in society."

Tickets for the Salute To Women cost $10 for the style show alone or $25 for the show and luncheon. For more information, call 674-1921. TPW