The Women's History Tour of Elkhart County

Ruthmere Mansion, now Ruthmere Museum, was the home of Elizabeth Beardsley (and her husband, Albert). Witty, intelligent, unique, and dynamic, Elizabeth was one of the most well-known women in Elkhart at the turn between the 19th and 20th c... Read more

Not much is known about the first two ladies of the Havilah Beardsley House; like many women of the 19th century, they were undoubtedly overshadowed by the accomplishments of their husbands and were seldom spoken of in collected histories. ... Read more

Not much is known about the first two ladies of the Havilah Beardsley House; like many women of the 19th century, they were undoubtedly overshadowed by the accomplishments of their husbands and were seldom spoken of in collected histories. ... Read more

Dr. Alexa Canady was born in Lansing, Michigan in 1950. In 1981 she became the first African American woman certified neurosurgeon in the United States. She was a pediatric neurosurgeon for most of her career. She served as chief of neurosu... Read more

Christina is a Michigan native who holds the record for the longest tour in space. She spent 328 days in space, landing on Earth on February 26, 2020. She became a NASA astronaut in 2013 and began her training for her trip to space in 2015.... Read more

Helen Free and her husband worked together at Miles Laboratories in Elkhart, IN to create the chemically coated paper dipstick in 1956  that would help people perform diabetic testing at home with ease. This invention was characterized as ... Read more

A photograph to come!  Mae Roxanna Chiddister Simpson was born April 23, 1892 in Lagrange County. Mae moved to Goshen, Indiana following her marriage to Aldo Simpson an attorney and later Elkhart County Circuit Court Judge. (Mae and Aldo d... Read more

More information coming 

More information to come 

More information to come 

Evelyn Culp was the Library Director of the Nappanee Public Library (NPL) from 1957 to 1977 and after that, she served eleven years as a Board Trustee. When she took the job as the Director at NPL, she decided that she would “wake up that... Read more

She was born March 12, 1921, in Elkhart, Indiana to Harold O. and Eva (Browning) Mountjoy. Several weeks before Peg’s birth, her mother, Eva, cut her hand pealing some fruit.  The cut became infected, sepsis developed, and Eva passed awa... Read more

Bonnie moved to Nappanee from Memphis, Tennessee in 1961. She had worked at McCormick Motors for 37 years as an Executive Secretary and was awarded the 2000 Secretary of the Year from the Nappanee Area Chamber of Commerce. In 1987, she join... Read more