With the words of our founder of the Woman’s Board of Children’s Home & Aid, Pauline K. Palmer exclaimed, “All the big things that go on are based on such small things, or so easily accomplished that they look complicated to those outside. Even the greatest inventions are simple after you learn how they have been made. And one wonders why they weren’t thought of before!”. Over the past 100 years, the Woman’s Board has used this guiding idea to support Children’s Home & Aid to move the needle in early childhood and education throughout the Chicago metropolitan area
As the Woman’s Board of Children’s Home & Aid is celebrating 100 years of reaching out to vulnerable children and families across Illinois, doing whatever it takes to help children and families thrive, we want to honor the women who have led the charge to share Children’s Home & Aid’s mission.
Through their 100 years, this group of women have led the Woman’s Board to raise millions of dollars for early childhood education, supported the opening of 3 childcare centers (Mitzi Freidheim Englewood Child & Family Center, the Marletta Darnall Schaumburg Child & Family Center and the Jerri Hoffmann Child & Family Center in Carpentersville) and provide turkeys for families at the centers during the holidays.
We are so grateful for their commitment and determination to make sure every child, every family thrives. On behalf of Children’s Home & Aid, we thank these generous women who have led campaigns and initiatives for the children and families in Illinois to help give them wings to fly.
To support the Woman’s Board Wings to Fly Campaign:
Woman’s Board Presidents
1920-23 Mrs. Potter Palmer
1924 Mrs. Gilbert W. Chapman
1925-29 Mrs. Chauncey McCormick
1930-31 Mrs. John Alden Carpenter, Mrs. Chauncey McCormick
1932-36 Mrs. John Alden Carpenter
1937 Mrs. Barrett Wendell
1938 Mrs. John Alden Carpenter
1939 Mrs. Edward H. Brewer
1940 Mrs. Robert S. Pirie
1941-1944 Mrs. Jacob Baur
1945 Mrs. Jacob Baur, Mrs. Chauncey McCormick, Mrs. Thomas J. Fleming
1946 Mrs. Jacob Baur
1947-51 Mrs. Walter B. Wolf
1952 Mrs. W. Lloyd Warner
1953-56 Mrs. Fred A. Poor
1956 Mrs. Samuel J. Campbell
1957 Mrs. John C. Ratcliffe
1958-60 Mrs. George F. Nixon
1961-62 Mrs. Walter D. Monroe
1963-64 Mrs. Aldis J. Browne, Jr.
1965-66 Mrs. James R. Addington
1967-68 Mrs. Robert E. Johnson
1969-70 Mrs. Francis J. Klimley
1971-72 Mrs. William G. Stratton
1973-74 Mrs. Philip W.K. Sweet, Jr.
1975 Mrs. Henry E. Bowes
1976 Mrs. Wayne Maxwell
1977 Mrs. Francis J. Klimley
1978 Mrs. Howard C. Miller, Jr.
1979 Mrs. W. David Braddock
1980-81 Mrs. Elizabeth K. Cluxton
1982-83 Mrs. Charles A. Pollock
1984-85 Mrs. Allin W. Proudfoot
1986-87 Mrs. Roger O. Brown
1988-89 Mrs. Cyrus F. Freidheim, Jr.
1990-91 Mrs. George H. Galloway
1992-93 Mrs. John F. Cuneo, Jr.
1994-95 Mrs. Michael P. Emmert
1996-97 Mrs. Clayton E. Whiting, Jr.
1998 Ms. Pamela B. Strobel
1999-2000 Mrs. Thomas J. Lee
2001-2002 Ms. Susan K. Darby
2003-2004 Mrs. John A. Wing
2005-2006 Ms. Alice White Zarov
2007-2008 Mrs. David C. Seidman
2009-2010 Ms. Gayle B. Spruance
2011-2012 Mrs. Gary D. Ahlquist
2012- 2013 Ms. Michelle McCarthy
2013-2015 Mrs. David H. Hoffmann, Ms. Alice White Zarov
2015-2017 Mrs. Jennifer Shriner Hay
2017-2019 Mrs. David F. Myers, Jr.
2019-2021 Ms. Mary Ellen Cagney