Discovering Catharine, Inspiring Action
presented in partnership with the Woman’s Club of Evanston and the Woman’s Club of Evanston Charitable Foundation

Tuesday, October 8, 2024, 7:00 p.m.

In-person event
At The Woman’s Club of Evanston
1702 Chicago Avenue, Evanston, IL

Free, with suggested donation
RSVP Required, scroll down to RSVP

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About the event:
Join us for a screening of the new film Discovering Catharine by Susan Hope Engel, which explores the life and legacy of Evanstonian Catharine Waugh McCulloch (1862 – 1945), an early female attorney, active Woman’s Club Member, and a fervent champion of women’s rights. Catharine’s extraordinary story will be used as a launching point for a post-film discussion with a multi-generational group of Evanston-based female activists and change-makers. Guest panelists include: Elisa Karen Walker: staff and board member at FirstRepair, Olivia Ohlson: Evanston Township High School senior and 2021 “Future of Evanston Award” winner, and Aimee Resick, a social policy student at Northwestern.

Guests are encouraged to attend with a family member or friend from an older or younger generation. Voter registration will be available onsite.

Panel Participants:
Olivia Ohlson, a senior at Evanston Township High School, is actively engaged in the Black Student Union and the Community Service Club. Her commitment to community service began at six years old with her successful “Olivia’s Pink Lemonade and Pink Ribbon Cookie Stands” project, which raised over $13K for cancer research. Her impactful “Hygiene Kits for Evanston’s Underserved” project has distributed over 4,500 kits, raising over $65K. Additionally, she is a varsity golfer and initiated “Diversify Golf” to encourage more diversity in the sport; a writer for her school’s newspaper, and holds leadership positions in the Girls Play Sports Youth Advisory Board and #GivingTuesday Spark’s International Youth Leadership team. Olivia is the recipient of an honorary ESPY award, a national Point of Light Award, the Chicagoland Jewish Child and Family Service’s Extraordinary Adolescent Award, and the Future of Evanston Award from the Evanston Chamber of Commerce and Northwestern University. She has received service awards from the Illinois State Senate, the Chessmen Club of the North Shore, the Evanston NorthShore NAACP Youth Trailblazer Award, and was recognized as a Cracker Jill athlete-activist. Featured in a book series on young change makers, Olivia is active in the Summer Engineering program at the University of Wisconsin Madison, aimed at reducing academic disparities among African American students.

Aimee Resnick is a Senior studying social policy at Northwestern University in Evanston. Originally from Centennial, Colorado, Resnick hopes to return to her home state to run for the state legislature. Previously, she successfully helped write and pass three legislative acts regarding upstream mental health promotion. The bills provide crisis line information to all students statewide, establish the first public health program dedicated to preventing eating disorders, and prohibit weight-based bullying in Colorado. She also owns a small lobbying and consulting firm dedicated to public health causes.

Elisa Karen Walker, an Evanston Township High School graduate, is currently a student at Hampton University, pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies. Her passion for reparative and community engagement has guided her academic and professional endeavors. At FirstRepair, a nonprofit in Evanston, IL, Elisa has taken on key responsibilities, including planning and executing local and international events, creating impactful digital communications, and mentoring a team of interns. She has represented FirstRepair at the Permanent Forum for People of African Descent at United Nations headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland; interned at the Hampton City Manager’s Office; served as a board member of FirstRepair and the Her Rising Initiative and a youth subcommittee member at the United Nations Permanent Forum for People of African Descent; and advocates for the rights of Black youth and the empowerment of girls.

RSVP and reserve your spot!

Please click the blue “Going” button below to RSVP. A confirmation email will be sent to the email you registered with.

If you don’t receive a confirmation email, please email Erin Hughes at ehughes@evanstonhistorycenter.org.