Site of Social Justice Advocacy, or Home of Godly Women? Interpreting Women's Work at the Frances Willard House Museum.

This article focuses on the history and ongoing interpretive controversies surrounding the Frances Willard House Museum in Evanston, Illinois, originally established by the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) in 1900 to honor their late president Frances Willard. The museum's collections and narratives have shifted from emphasizing Willard's religiously framed domestic reform work to more recent efforts highlighting her broader progressive activism, sparking disputes between the WCTU and the Center for Women's History and Leadership (CWHL) over ownership and representation. These conflicts reflect broader tensions in commemorating women's political and professional achievements within house museums, especially amid evolving social values related to gender, race, and sexuality. As of the article's writing, the WCTU retains legal ownership of the museum, leaving the future direction of its interpretation uncertain.