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Macomb Feminist Network Announces 2020 Writing Women into History Honorees

February 3, 2020

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MACOMB, IL -- The Macomb Feminist Network has selected Janine Cavicchia, Patricia "Patti" Jones, Lois Lueck and Sue Scott for the 2020 Writing Women into History Awards. The women will be honored for their outstanding contributions to the local community from 10 a.m.-noon Saturday, March 7, during a reception at the Wesley Village Community Center. This is the 11th year the award will be given.

Through this award, the network seeks to expand public knowledge and appreciation of individual women whose initiatives, advocacy and engagement have strengthened the local community in significant ways. This year's recipients, like previous recipients, excel as role models and community leaders.

Cavicchia, a resident of Macomb since 1985, served as the director of Western Illinois University's Women's Center for 18 years. In this role, she initiated and/or supported numerous organizations, programs and activities that range from co-sponsored projects with the Western Illinois Regional Council and Girl Scouts of Central Illinois, to programs that focus on women's health, women's sexuality and safety, women in sports and women researchers, artists and leaders in education, business and civic life.

Cavicchia has served or currently serves on many boards and committees at Western and in Macomb and McDonough County, including the League of Women Voters, the United Way and the Equal Opportunity and Fair Housing Commission. Cari Sheets, who nominated Cavicchia, described her as a strong and tireless advocate for equity and inclusion, someone who uses her knowledge and organizational skills to benefit communities throughout the area.

Jones has lived in Macomb since she enrolled at WIU as a student in 1979. As a Western employee, and now a retiree, she has been a particularly forceful supporter of cross-cultural understanding through her work as an instructor in Western's English as a Second Language program, an advisor to international students and an administrator in the University Advising and Academic Support Center.

She continues to integrate an awareness of, commitment to and support for cross-cultural interaction among WIU students and the Macomb community. Jones has been exceptionally active in several organizations, most notably, the WIU Chapter of the State University Annuitants Association, the Learning Is ForEver (L.I.F.E.) Curriculum Committee and the Interfaith Alliance of Macomb (IAM). She also serves as a trustee of the Macomb Fire Pension Fund Board, helping make decisions about disability issues for local firefighters.

Lueck, a retired Colchester High School guidance director, began her advocacy for individuals and families in Macomb shortly after her arrival in 1969. She helped rehab a house for a refugee Cambodian family, served on the Family Nurturing Committee of Habitat for Humanity and spoke out in support of group homes for persons with developmental disabilities despite strong opposition.

Consistent champions of literacy, Lois and her late husband Lowell, established the Lueck Reading Fund to provide the WIU Curriculum Center with books on special needs and cultural diversity, and she tutored GED students for over 20 years at Spoon River College. In addition, her ongoing interest in local history is reflected in her many years on the Western Illinois Museum Board where she has served as president and secretary and continues as a volunteer for multiple events.

Scott, curator of the Western Illinois Museum for 11 years, has initiated a multitude of new projects at the museum. These include collaborations with various Macomb institutions, new programs and major building renovation projects. The institutions Scott has worked with include the Gwendolyn Brooks Cultural Center, the Macomb Food Coop and the Macomb Women's Club. Her program initiatives, often emphasizing multi-sensory and interdisciplinary approaches, encompass the interests of families (exhibits, concerts, oral history presentations, Haunted History Tours and General Macomb's Birthday Party), of children (Letters to Santa) and of adults (the Blind Swine Speakeasy).

The construction of a "front porch" for staged events, and the installation of user-friendly windows and more substantial insulation, are just three building renovations that have increased the museum's utility and comfort. To help fund these projects, Scott has made grant writing and funding raising an important part of her work.

These women join the women who have been honored previously with the Writing Women into History Award: Wanda Black, Mary Ellen Graff, Rosa Julestrom and Beth Stiffler (2010), Connie Berg, Marcia Moll and Ruth Parks (2011), Maria Dunstan, Judith Kohler and Donna Werner (2012), Josephine Johnson, Elizabeth Kaspar and Janice Welsch (2013), Gordana Rezab, Alice Swain and Mary Warnock (2014), Lois Ganyard, Margaret Ovitt and Suzan Nash (2015), Alice Henry, Alta Sargent and Peggy Scharfenburg (2016), Lorraine Epperson, Debbie Maguire, Pamella McLean and Rebecca "Becky" Parker (2017), Sally Egler, Martha Klems, Maurine Magliocco and Paula Wise (2018), and Belinda Carr, Susan Lawhorn, Winona Malpass, Essie Rutledge and Patricia Walton (2019). Information about these women's contributions to the city and county is available on the Macomb Feminist Network's website at macombfeminists.org/.

The public is invited to join MFN members in honoring this year's award recipients at Wesley Village Community Center. Following a light brunch, honorees will tell their stories of activism and civic commitment.

Posted By: University Communications (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
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