Susan Lawrence Dana

Portrait of Susan Lawrence Dana, date uknown

Susan Lawrence Dana (October 13, 1862 - February 21, 1942) was an independent woman and heiress to a substantial fortune, including silver mines in the Rocky Mountains. After her father died, Lawrence Dana took over his western mines and properties throughout central Illinois. She was also a leading philanthropic figure in Illinois - she held fundraisers or parties for Springfield charities, including the King’s Daughters Home for Aged Women, the Home for the Friendless and several others. She also commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright to create a library for the Lawrence Education Center, named after her father.

In the 1920s, Lawrence Dana was heavily involved with the National Woman’s Party (NWP) and its efforts to gain equal rights for women. She was in regular correspondence with Alice Paul and Burnita Shelton Matthews regarding these efforts. Lawrence Dana also arrange for Anita Pollitzer, National Secretary of the NWP, to give a speech at her house in the 1923. She also hosted a number of other events that focused on social justice. She worked on the Illinois Commission Half-Century Anniversary of Negro Freedom in 1913 and was a members of the Executive Committee of the Sangomon County Republican women's organization.

Dana Thomas House

Dana Thomas House by Frank Lloyd Wright

Dana is notable as one of the few woman to engage with Frank Lloyd Wright as an architect at this point in his career. However, Dana’s bold design sensibilities, paired with a staid commitment to advancing social justice for women and within the African American community through political involvement, thus mark her as a truly unique and progressive patron of architecture at the turn of the century. The project grew and became a blonde Roman brick mansion with 35 rooms on 16 different levels. An anomaly in Springfield, the house is a masterpiece that still stands today as one of Wright's finest Prairie designs.