At DHS, we are very proud of our extensive community cookbook collection. With more than
100 titles dating back to 1898, the books tell a fascinating story of our culture and region
throughout the years. But cookbooks also tell another story: when women wanted to fund
something for their church, school, or neighborhood, a local cookbook was often the answer.
From Calf Head’s Soup to Haystacks to Pickled Watermelon, to every single Jello recipe known
to exist, the books are a time capsule that celebrate local women.
Being that so many of these cookbooks helped restore buildings, beautify parks, and fund
programs, and with Women’s History Month on our minds, we thought it was a great opportunity to focus on buildings saved by women. As it turns out, it was much of the city.
The best-known structure saved by a group of local women is the Sutherlin Mansion, now
the Museum of Fine Arts and History. After the death of Mrs. Sutherlin in 1912, there were efforts to have the house demolished and its grounds developed. The United Daughters of the
Confederacy (UDC) spearheaded a campaign to raise the money for the down payment of the
building, thereby saving it from being sold to a developer. The city later purchased the house
from the UDC.
Decades later, the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) watched in
horror as some of the most architecturally significant buildings in Danville were torn down post
World War II. Armed with pens, petitions, and persuasive words, the DAR began a campaign
that eventually saved most of the Old West End. Led by DAR member Mary Cahill and her
Historic Preservation Committee, the ladies researched nearly every building in town. They
cataloged areas, wrote up histories, and interviewed hundreds of people. They wrote
impassioned letters to government officials, influenced zoning laws, organized community
meetings, and rallied local support. Their dedication is why we have Millionaire’s Row and the
Old West End. (And later the Danville Historical Society, which they founded in 1971.)
We continue to owe much to women today for their dedication to saving Danville’s historic
structures and neighborhoods. Dr. Ina Dixon is the leading expert on Schoolfield and the main
force behind its becoming an historic district. Karice Luck Brimmer is the preeminent historian
and genealogist for African Americans in the region, and has been extensively involved with the
protection of Almagro, Camp Grove, and Holbrook-Ross. Sonja Ingram, who has been a
dominant force in educating the public on preserving historic cemeteries, barns, houses, and local
Rosenwald Schools, now runs the Museum of Fine Arts & History. In the past five decades,
though, one woman stands out for her passion and advocacy for preservation: Susan Stilwell. In
the 1980s, Susan returned to Danville after living in the western US and was decades ahead
when it came to ideas about city planning. Susan was advocating for historic preservation at a
time when no one in Danville was even vaguely thinking about its benefits, and she dedicated
her real estate career to finding buyers and saving many of Danville’s historic buildings. Susan
also led by example. In addition to owning a historic house in the Old West End, Susan
purchased and saved several historic warehouses including one on Craighead Street, which she
turned into her residence. This at a time when no one else lived downtown and many viewed it as unsafe. Her brave and forward-thinking investment was a link between a crumbling former tobacco district and the vibrant commercial, retail, and residential area now known as the River District.
These local women, like those who saved Mount Vernon in Alexandria, Virginia, Cape May in
New Jersey, and countless other historic places across the country, may have worked quietly,
but their legacy lives on in the parks we enjoy, the buildings we admire, and the stories that
remind us from where we came. These are the stories that are represented even in the modest
community cookbooks that so often raised the money to fund preservation campaigns.
Corned Beef and Gelatin anyone?
