Dawes Descendent Wants NU to Re-Open Dawes House to Public

One of the last surviving grandchildren of General Charles Gates Dawes wants Northwestern University to preserve her family home, Dawes House, in perpetuity for the citizens of Evanston.

In an interview posted on YouTube earlier this week, (see link at the bottom of this article) Caroline Maxey, 86, said the University must respect the wishes of her grandfather, a Nobel Prize winner and former Vice-President of the United States, who entrusted his home to Northwestern for use by the Evanston History Center.

"Northwestern University should keep the family home open to the public forever," said Mrs. Maxey, who lived in Dawes House when she was a teenager. The University abruptly closed Dawes House to the public on April 16. The University has said it may use the 25-room lakefront mansion, which is a National Historic Landmark, to house a Northwestern official.

In the interview at her home in Lake Forest, Mrs. Maxey reminisces about her family's life at Dawes House. She recalled festive holiday dinners in the mansion's elegant dining room, where a sleigh sat in the center of the dining table, and each child pulled a golden ribbon to retrieve a present from the sleigh.

General Dawes Returns, an ad hoc group of citizens is seeking the return of the Dawes House to the Evanston History Center. Until April 16, any member of the public could tour the museum and see the very dining table where Caroline Maxey shared Christmas dinner with her family. Now, thanks to Northwestern, not even Mrs. Maxey can visit her old home.

"I think the family home should be open to the public," Mrs. Maxey told Frank Corrado, co-founder of General Dawes Returns, in the interview. Mrs. Maxey lived in the house for two years when she was a teenager attending high school at Roycemore in Evanston. "My grandfather entrusted his home and an endowment to Northwestern University," she said. "I hope this trust will be honored."

Northwestern closed the Evanston History Center after the university asked Evanston fire officials to inspect the property. The Evanston Fire Department found some safety violations but said in a report (see it on www.generaldawesreturns.org ) that the center could remain open to the public under certain conditions. Thus far, Northwestern has refused to re-open the building.

When Caroline Maxey can't even visit her family's home, this beautiful historic house her grandfather entrusted to the University to safeguard for the people of Evanston, something's terribly wrong.

Evanstonians need to stand together to stop Northwestern from violating General Dawes' trust. He wanted his house to preserve Evanston’s history. He wanted it to be used to educate the people of Evanston about the history of their city, and a repository for information about all of the homes in Evanston. As an educational institution, Northwestern ought to embrace Dawes' trust, and allow the public enjoy this magnificent historic mansion as he intended, not betray his trust by turning the Dawes House into a private residence for one privileged university official.