Hyde Park in Chicago in Cook County, Illinois — The American Midwest (Great Lakes)

Cheney-Goode Memorial

Photographed by Sean P. Flynn, October 17, 2026

1. Cheney-Goode Memorial Marker

Inscription.
Flora Sylvester Cheney

1872-1929

Kathleen Hancock Goode

1872-1928

Leaders who devoted their lives to the civic betterment of their neighborhood, city and state.

Erected 1932.

Topics. This historical marker and memorial is listed in these topic lists: Civil Rights • Government & Politics • Women. A significant historical year for this entry is 1872.

Location. 41° 47.227′ N, 87° 35.294′ W. Marker is in Chicago, Illinois, in Cook County. It is in Hyde Park. It is on Midway Plaisance near Stony Island Avenue, on the left when traveling west. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 1130 Midway Plaisance North, Chicago IL 60637, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker and memorial is on Chicago’s South Side. It is also in the American Midwest.

Globally, it is in North America,

on the Great Lakes,

in the Western Hemisphere,

in the Western World,

and in the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Viceroyalty of New France,

the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

and the Northwest Territory.

Other nearby markers. At least

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8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: A different marker also named Cheney-Goode Memorial (here, next to this marker); Jackson Park (about 400 feet away, measured in a direct line); The Boulevard System (about 400 feet away); Masaryk Memorial Monument (about 500 feet away); Remembering Lori Healey (1959-2025) (about 600 feet away); Julie Mehretu, b. 1970 (about 600 feet away); Acknowledging Indigenous Peoples' Land and Territory (about 600 feet away); History of Jackson Park (about 800 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Chicago.

More about this marker. This limestone and sundial were funded by donations and installed in 1932 along the train embankment on the western edge of the eastern end of the Midway Plaisance in July 1932. According to the Chicago Park District, the memorial was vandalized almost immediately, the sundial was stolen, and graffiti proved to be such a long-standing problem that the bench was painted over a dark gray. The new coloring coupled with erosion left the inscription on the bench almost completely unreadable.

Until 2024, the bench and sundial were the only notable

Cheney-Goode Memorial inscription image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Sean P. Flynn, October 17, 2026

2. Cheney-Goode Memorial inscription

The inscription is in the middle, flanked by the names of the two women being honored.

feature of a what was, for all intents and purposes, a large green field. In 2024, in conjunction with the construction of the Barack Obama Presidential Center across Stony Island Ave., the Chicago Park District renovated the grassy field, adding a new playground next to the Cheney-Goode Memorial and a prairie garden to the east. It also restored the memorial itself, installing a new sundial and returning the bench to its original white color.

A separate historical marker erected by the Park District after the bench's restoration is a few steps away.

Regarding Cheney-Goode Memorial. South Side residents Flora Cheney and Katherine Goode were leading political reformers and women's suffragists in the early 20th century. Cheney was born in Fond Du Lac, Wisc., and moved to Chicago after marrying in 1896. active in the fight to secure women's right to vote, serving as president of the Illinois League of Women Voters and as the first president of the Cook County Council of Leagues of Women Voters.

Her friend Katherine Goode, a native of Minnesota, was married to a cartographer named J. Paul Goode. They moved to Chicago when he took

Flora Sylvester Cheney inscription image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Sean P. Flynn, October 17, 2026

3. Flora Sylvester Cheney inscription

a job at the University of Chicago. An activist for women's rights, she was near the end of her life elected to the Illinois senate, with Cheney serving as her campaign manager. After she died in 1928, Cheney was elected to fill her vacancy. She died the next year due to Hodgkin's disease.

Also see . . .
1. Cheney-Goode Memorial. A history of the memorial from the Chicago Park District.

Excerpt: "The Cheney-Goode Memorial is one of Chicago’s few early monuments dedicated to women who played a significant role in the city’s history. It honors two accomplished women who lived on the city’s South Side, Flora S. Cheney and Katherine H. Goode. A large number of donors contributed to this memorial limestone bench and sundial."

(Submitted on October 17, 2026, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois.)

2. Midway Plaisance’s East End Would Get A Play Area And Renovations To Cheney-Goode Memorial. A 2022 article by Block Club Chicago about Park District plans to renovate a part of the Midway Plaisance as part of the construction of the Obama Library.

Excerpt: "The green space around the Cheney-Goode Memorial must be renovated
Photographed by Sean P. Flynn, October 17, 2026

4. Kathleen Hancock Goode inscription
as a stand-in for Jackson Park land lost to the Obama Presidential Center."

(Submitted on October 17, 2026, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois.)

3. Hyde Park Stories: Cheney-Goode Memorial Bench. From the Hyde Park History blog.

Excerpt: "They were a team for women’s rights and civic improvement. Cheney was the shrewd campaign manager, Goode the charismatic public speaker. They were once nationally renowned. They were two of the four Illinois women placed on the National League of Women Voters honor roll, joining women like Jane Addams and Susan B. Anthony. Illinois was a hotbed of suffrage, and Hyde Park/Woodlawn was ground zero. When the Republican Convention came to Chicago in 1920, 40 women from the neighborhood descended on the convention on horseback through a driving rain to demand the vote."

(Submitted on October 17, 2026, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois.)

4. Jane Addams: Tribute to Katherine Hancock Goode, January 12, 1928 (fragment). The social reformer Jane Addams, who founded Chicago's Hull House, wrote a tribute to Katherine Goode after Goode died in 1928.

Excerpt: "Perhaps Mrs. Goode,
Photographed by Sean P. Flynn, October 17, 2026

5. Cheney-Goode Memorial
A separate sign installed by the Chicago Park District shares the history of this memorial.
more nearly than any other woman in the United States who has sat in a legislative hall since women acquired the right to vote, embodied the ideal cherished by the multitude of women who for many years worked for the extension of the franchise."

(Submitted on October 17, 2026, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois.)

Obama Presidential Center image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Sean P. Flynn, October 17, 2026

6. Obama Presidential Center

The Cheney-Goode Memorial is about 200 yards west of the Obama Presidential Center, which opened in 2026. The playground near the memorial was constructed to replace park land lost to the Obama Center.

Cheney-Goode Memorial before its restoration image. Click for full size.

Courtesy of Chicago Park District, circa 2010

7. Cheney-Goode Memorial before its restoration

The white limestone bench was painted over in gray at some point due to consistent problems with graffiti and vandalism. The 2025 restoration returned it to its original white.

Katherine Hancock Goode image. Click for full size.

University of Chicago Photographic Archive (apf1-06411)

8. Katherine Hancock Goode

Credits. This page was last revised on October 17, 2026. It was originally submitted on October 17, 2026, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois. This page has been viewed 8 times since then. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. submitted on October 17, 2026, by Sean P. Flynn of Oak Park, Illinois.