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Kristin Lems - ERA Fight in Illinois

Kristin Lems was a graduate student in 1974 when she led a group of women to create the National Women’s Music Festival, the first ever women’s music festival. In 1978 she released her first album of folksongs and was in constant demand at ERA rallies, women’s conferences and meetings thereafter. She criss-crossed the state of Illinois prior to the crucial ERA vote in 1982. Kristin continues to perform with many luminaries across the U.S. Her music focuses on the themes of women’s equality, racial justice, peace and the environment.

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Abstract

Interview Session (Audio)


Photos

Caption
Evanston high school student Kristin with her mother, Carol Lems-Dworkin, circa 1968. Lems-Dworkin taught music at Kendall College at the time of this photo.

Where:
Unknown

When:
1968

Ownership:
Narrator's photo

Caption
Kristin Lems performed at the National Conference of the National Organization for Women in Washington, D.C. in 1978 in front of an ERA banner. From left to right are Tim Vear (bass), Lems, Jeanne Mackey (vocals), and Penny Rosenwasser (vocals).

Where:
Washington, D.C.

When:
1978

Ownership:
Narrator's photo

Caption
Kristin Lems sang “The Ballad of the ERA” with Judy Goldsmith, a National Organization of Women officer. Left to right, are Laurie Haag on bass, Betty Ford, Betty Friedan, and Esther Rolle. Also present was Lady Bird Johnson, who stands behind Lems.

Where:
Washington, D.C.

When:
1981

Ownership:
Narrator's photo

Caption
Kristin Lems sang and played guitar at a rally in Lafayette Park in Washington, D.C. on June 30, 1982, the date that the deadline for ERA’s passage expired. Lems recorded her third album, “We Will Never Give Up,” at this event.

Where:
Washington, D.C.

When:
1982

Ownership:
Narrator's photo

Caption
Kristin Lems performed for a crowd gathered at Lafayette Park in Washington, D.C. Lems recorded her third album, “We Will Never Give Up,” at this event, which took place the same day the ERA expired on June 30, 1982.

Where:
Washington, D.C.

When:
1982

Ownership:
Narrator's photo

Caption
Kristin Lems sang and played guitar at a rally in Lafayette Park in Washington, D.C. Lems recorded her third album, “We Will Never Give Up,” at this event, which took place the same day the ERA expired on June 30, 1982.

Where:
Washington, D.C.

When:
1982

Ownership:
Narrator's photo

Caption
In 1984 Kristin Lems sang at a New Year's Eve party in Boumerdes, Algeria, as part of her Fulbright to teach post-secondary ESL to teachers from 1983-1985.

Where:
Boumerdes, Algeria

When:
1984

Ownership:
Fatiha Saouli's photo. May be restricted. Patrons desiring to use this photograph should contact the ALPL Audio-Visual Curator.

Caption
Kristin and her mother, Carol Lems-Dworkin, circa 1990s.

Where:
Unknown

When:
circa 1990s

Ownership:
Narrator's photo

Caption
Kristin Lems sang and played guitar with Peggy Lipschutz for Hiroshima Day commemoration in 1995. They are standing at the Henry Moore sculpture at the University of Chicago, which was covered with paper cranes.

Where:
University of Chicago

When:
1995

Ownership:
Narrator's photo

Caption
Kristin Lems performed with musical icon Ella Jenkins at a party.

Where:
Unknown

When:
Unknown

Ownership:
Narrator's photo

Caption
Kristin Lems and fellow folk singer Peggy Seeger at a Cleveland concert series in 2007.

Where:
Cleveland

When:
2007

Ownership:
Narrator's photo

Caption
Kristin Lems used songs to teach educators in La Serena, Chile in 2012. Lems was an English language specialist with the United States State Department.

Where:
La Serena, Chile

When:
2012

Ownership:
Narrator's photo

Caption
Kristin Lems is pictured alongside colleagues at the National University of Mongolia in the fall of 2013. Lems was working in Mongolia on her second Fulbright scholarship.

Where:
National University of Mongolia

When:
2013

Ownership:
Narrator's photo

Caption
Kristin Lems recorded her original song “The Heart of a Woman,” in a studio during the summer of 2016. The song is about women who saved the lives of Chilean miners, which was included on her album, “You Me and All of the Above.”

Where:
Unknown

When:
2016

Ownership:
Narrator's photo

Caption
Kristin Lems performed during a musical set on Jane Addams’ birthday at the University of Illinois-Chicago in 2017. Lems took that opportunity to debut a few songs from her stage play with songs, “Saint Jane” and “The Wicked Wicks.”

Where:
University of Illinois-Chicago

When:
2017

Ownership:
Narrator's photo

Caption
Kristin Lems with her two children, Kennan and Karima Lems Daoudi, her sister, Martha Rosenberg, and her mother, Carol Lems-Dworkin, as they celebrated her mother’s birthday on April 1, 2019.

Where:
Unknown

When:
April 2019

Ownership:
Narrator's photo

Caption
Kristin Lems performed for seniors at Mather Place in Wilmette, Illinois in the fall of 2019.

Where:
Wilmette, Illinois

When:
Fall 2019

Ownership:
Narrator's photo



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