35th Annual Tales Tombstones Tell - Self Guided Tour
Welcome, history enthusiasts and curious minds! We're thrilled to invite you on a virtual journey through time with our self-guided tour of the 35th anniversary "Tales Tombstones Tell." This blog series will take you on a captivating exploration of local history, one gravestone at a time. Each post features the script and an accompanying video recording from a different stop on the cemetery walk, allowing you to experience the rich stories and forgotten tales etched in stone. Whether you're a longtime resident or a newcomer to our community, prepare to uncover the fascinating lives, triumphs, and tragedies of those who came before us. Let's embark on this historical adventure together, as we bring the past to life through the whispers of our Oakwood cemetery.
Harriette Elizabeth Hills
Interpretor: Carol Townsend
Stop 2, Grave 343
My name is Harriette Elizabeth Hills. I was born in 1871 and raised in a house that my father built right here in Turner, Illinois. My mother’s family had come to the United States long before this country was founded. My father Albert however came to New York from Bethersdent, Kent, England with his family as a young man in 1849, the very year this community was founded 175 years ago. My father and his family were part of a community of English settlers who spread from the Oneida and Herkimer Counties in New York west to DuPage and Kane Counties in Illinois. These families included Hills, Padgham, Evenden, Avard, Allison, and Booth, some of whom are also buried in this very cemetery.
I was unusual for a woman of my time, as I was a career woman who commuted to Chicago for work each day. Although I only attended two years of high school at Turner School, I worked successfully as a secretary for an architect group early in my career. In 1912 I was asked to take a short contract with the University Club of Chicago for six months. However, that six months turned into 34 years. I loved my job as I was surrounded by literature and arts, the core mission of the University Club, and I believe that helped to shape me into the woman I became, and was maybe the reason I worked there until I was 75 years old.
My sister, Helen, and I were active in our community of West Chicago. We were founding members of the West Chicago Woman's Club, and I eventually realized that our town was in need of a library. I began collecting books and storing them in orange crates in City Hall, the building that houses your City Museum today. After some time we collected nearly 6,000 books, and members of the Woman's Club diligently donated their time to help the public check out books and organize the library.
In 1934, the city began collecting a library maintenance tax and formed a library board. The Woman's Club voted to give our entire collection of books to the city, and the local paper praised me for my tireless work in starting and organizing the library. Here’s what the paper said:
"Too much credit cannot be given the Woman's club as a whole and very especially to Miss Harriette Hills for what they have given the city in this library. Miss Hills was tireless in the work of starting the project, carrying on the huge task of cataloging the books and installing a filing system."
I passed away at the age of 76 on January 21, 1948, and my obituary recalled my devotion to the library, suggesting that if the city ever got its own library building, it should be named after me. The newspaper even said so, in my obituary:
"If, and when this city realizes its dream of a library building of its own, it would be fitting that it be named the "Harriette E. Hills Memorial Library", for she was, in fact, its founder."