Hazle Buck Ewing Women’s Suffrage Collection
Hazle Buck Ewing passionately supported many causes over her lifetime. She joined the women’s suffrage movement in 1915 and devoted the next four years to working with local, state, and national leaders to help secure voting rights for women by writing letters and articles, organizing and attending conferences, and providing financial support. A lifelong member of the Bloomington League of Women Voters, Hazle voted in every election from 1920 until, in old age, she became too ill to leave her home.
View the Hazle Buck Ewing Women’s Suffrage Collection
Sunset Hill Architectural Records
Davis Ewing took many photographs of architecture in the countries he visited with Hazle and their adopted son Ralph during their 1924-25 world tour as inspiration for a new home he intended to build for his family. After returning to Bloomington, he hired Associates of A. L. Pillsbury, Architect to take on his vision. Phillip Hooton was the architect assigned to the project and the John Felmey Company served as the contractor. Construction began on March 1, 1928 and the Ewings moved in in September 1929.
Hooten, working closely with the Ewings, incorporated French-inspired detailing and English functionalism into the Channel Norman-style residence. The Ewings used reclaimed materials, such as bricks from an abandoned brewery, artificially weathered limestone and timber, and modern concrete supplied by Davis’ company to construct their dream home, which they named “Sunset Hill” in honor of landscape architect Jens Jenson who designed the curving pathway where both sunrise and sunset could be viewed.
Davis lived in the home for less than a year before the couple divorced in 1931. Hazle and her companion Julia Fairfax Hodge occupied Sunset Hill for the remainder of their lives. Upon her death, Hazle bequeathed her home and its contents to the Illinois State University Foundation. Now known as the Ewing Cultural Center, the manor and its grounds host a number of events throughout the year, including the Illinois Shakespeare Festival, exhibits, tours, and private events.