Songs for the Unsung: Susan Lawrence Dana and the Fight for Women’s Rights

We are pleased to collaborate with the Springfield Choral Society to bring you this special tour and performance at the Dana-Thomas House in celebration of Women's History Month. The one-hour program will include a special guided tour of several rooms in the Dana-Thomas House. The Springfield Choral Society will perform several pieces throughout the tour, accompanied by a guide discussing the role of the home's original owner Susan Lawrence Dana in the women's rights movement. The tour will lead you to the Dana House gallery for a seated performance of "A Great Lady Lived Here," a theatrical piece exploring the life of Susan Lawrence Dana adapted by Kevin Purcell and performed by Leigh Steiner.

The program is free, but reservations are strongly recommended as space is limited for this special program. The program will be offered three times on Saturday, March 22: 10:30 AM, 1:30 PM and 3:00 PM.

This program is part of the Springfield Choral Society's Songs For the Unsung Festival, taking place March 21-23, 2025. For a full list of festival events, please visit the Choral Society website at https://www.springfieldchoralsociety.org/post/songs-for-the-unsung-music-stories-of-women-march-21-23-2025

Parking

Free parking is available in the Dana-Thomas House parking lot, on the northeast corner of Fourth Street and Lawrence Avenue. Additional free parking is located in our second lot at Third and Cook Streets.

Arrival/Entry

Please meet your guide at the front door of the house on Lawrence Avenue, approximately 5-10 minutes before your scheduled tour time.

Photography/Recording

Only exterior recording is permitted at the Dana-Thomas House. Photos, video and other recording are NOT permitted inside the Dana-Thomas House. To allow everyone to fully experience the program, we ask that all phones be set to silent/vibrate or turned off.

Accessiblility

The Dana-Thomas House was designed and constructed in the years 1902-04 and contains many elevations connected by stairs. Parts of this program, including a portion of the tour and the theatrical performance, require stairs to access. Some portions of the tour can be accessed without the use of stairs; please contact us at [email protected] with questions or requests for accommodation.

About the Site

The Dana-Thomas House was designed and built between 1902-1904 by renowned American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. It was commissioned by Susan Lawrence Dana, a Springfield socialite, philanthropist, and activist who collaborated with Wright on his first "blank check" commission to design a home in which she could advance her ideas about democracy and education. At 12,600 square feet, with 35 rooms and over 100 art glass windows, when completed in 1904 it was the largest and most extravagant home Wright had designed thus far in his independent career as an architect. Today it is managed by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources; with most of its original furnishings and art glass still intact, it is one of the most complete of Wright's Prairie style homes in the United States.

Host or Publisher Illinois Department of Natural Resources State Historic Sites Springfield