In 2019, to honor the centennial anniversary of the passage of the 19th amendment, the Ewing Cultural Center partnered with Milner Library’s Digitization Center to provide digital access to materials relating to Hazle Buck Ewing’s women’s suffrage activism. This small collection now serves as the foundation of a growing corpora of documents and photographs created or collected by the Ewing family, starting with records dating to the construction of their iconic Bloomington home, Sunset Hill.
The inspiration for the design of this local landmark now known as Ewing Manor arose from a 14-month world tour that Hazle and Davis embarked upon with their adopted son Ralph in 1924. Along the way, Davis photographed a variety of architectural structures that interested him, as well as some books with prints of French country homes. After returning to Bloomington, he hired Associates of A. L. Pillsbury, Architect to take on his vision for his new home. 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 took the idea of using open timber roofs from Norman churches. They directed that wooden beams be used for the top levels and wings of the manor, but that molded concrete “beams” be incorporated into the ceiling of their main living room. The concrete spiral staircase with wrought iron railings, which rises from the basement to the third floor within the west tower also draws inspiration from the architecture of the Norman Conquest. The façade is mainly built of limestone that the Ewings purchased from Joliet and places in Wisconsin. In order to “season” the stone, it was delivered to the site, strewn with iron shavings, and left out in the open for the winter. The hand-hewn cypress timbers on the façade were sandblasted before installation to appear more weathered. Used bricks from an abandoned local brewery were employed in paving the courtyard.
The Ewings named their new home “Sunset Hill” in honor of Jens Jenson, their landscape architect. He designed the curving pathway on the grounds of the manor where both sunrise and sunset could be viewed. Davis lived in the home for only a few months before the couple divorced in 1931. Julia Fairfax Hodge (1878-1966) moved in soon after Hazle’s separation from Davis. Hazle and Julia occupied Sunset Hill, later known as Ewing Manor, for the remainder of their lives. Upon her death, Hazle bequeathed the 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.
In order to accommodate the documents that tell this story, as well as future additions, the Hazle Buck Ewing Women’s Suffrage Collection has been renamed the Ewing Family Collection. Soon, the Digitization Center will begin photographing the family’s diaries from their 1924-25 world tour, providing a privileged window into their day-to-day experiences on a voyage that changed their lives forever.
