“The world is wide, and I will not waste my life in friction when it could be turned into momentum.” – Frances E. Willard

Today marks the anniversary of the birth of Frances E. Willard (September 28, 1839 – February 17, 1898), a member of the Lady Board of Managers of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition and the president of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union.

The profile of this notable women’s rights activist comes from the October 1891 issue of The Illustrated World’s Fair.

MISS FRANCES E. WILLARD

LADY MANAGER, EVANSTON, ILL.

It has happily become a work of supererogation to introduce Miss Willard to the world. Her books and her personal acquaintance, her character and her hopes of the coming humanity, alike make her conspicuous. Mingled with the esteem in which the world holds her, is the notable affection which woman is capable of bearing, in rare instances, toward her sister woman. The reform women of the world love Miss Willard.

A statue of Frances E. Willard designed by Helen Farnsworth Mears and standing in the National Statuary Hall in the United States Capitol. This 1905 statue was the first of a woman included and one of the two depictions of prominent Illinois citizens in the collection.