Did you know that the historic building that houses the International Museum of Surgical Science was not always a museum? Before IMSS opened its doors to the public in 1954, the Museum was a private home in the possession of the Countiss family, built in 1917 for the family matriarch, Eleanor Robinson Countiss.
A Not-So-Petite Trianon
Eleanor, who spent a fair deal of her girlhood traveling in France alongside her sister Laura, desired a home that paid homage to her youth. After marrying Frederick Downer Countiss in 1910, Eleanor used the trust fund left to her by her father to commission Chicago architect Howard Van Doren Shaw. Eleanor tasked Shaw with designing a replica of Le Petit Trianon, a chateau on the grounds of Versailles, fit for the burgeoning Chicago skyline. Le Petit Trianon held special significance for Eleanor, not only had she visited the residence in her youth, but she also returned on her honeymoon after her marriage to Frederick. The mansion at 1524 North Lake Shore Drive, completed in November of 1917, stood not only as a sentimental nod to her life thus far but also as testament to Eleanor’s high station in Chicago high society during the early twentieth century. The house had an impressive 30 rooms, 9 full baths, 11 fireplaces, and an Otis elevator that could hold 13 people – and is still operational to this day! The mansion was also outfitted with Italian marble flooring, beautiful walnut wood paneling in the second-floor library, unique carved mantles for each fireplace, and a gilded staircase. The engravings in the ceilings and moldings borrowed directly from the Trianon.
A Home Fit For a Socialite
The second floor of the home, with its phenomenally high ceilings and ornate details, was designed for entertaining – which was something Eleanor did often. Throughout the years, Eleanor hosted many illustrious guests which included the Fords of the Ford Motor Company, the Shedds of the Shedd Aquarium, the Mortons of the Morton Salt Company, and even the prince and princess of Sweden. However, Eleanor also took a keen interest in civic and social matters and spent much of her time organizing for various charitable efforts.
A World War and a Chance To Do Good
As concerns over the war in Europe grew increasingly present, the United States began initiating training camps at home for young men. However, women too desired to participate more in the war effort and in May of 1916 the first women’s training camp started in Washington D.C. and, by August of 1916, the Navy League established a Red Cross training camp at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. In that same year, Eleanor joined the ranks of women “[responding] to the call” of their country, joining the Red Cross and the Women’s Auxiliary of the Navy League.
For the Red Cross and the Navy League Eleanor worked as an organizer and fundraiser, actively putting herself in the public eye to help raise funds and support programming aimed towards supporting frugality – and the work continued at home. Eleanor used her home for Red Cross gatherings, knitting and rolling bandages to send overseas as well as offering her home as host for many important meetings and presentations. Once the war brought home wounded soldiers, she held bandage rolling gatherings, a common woman’s wartime effort, in her large second floor parlor. Here, she also assembled field kits for the trenches. Continuing Eleanor’s political and social involvement, she was a suffragette fighting for women’s rights. In July of 1917, Eleanor took out an ad in the Chicago Examiner, thanking the city for their contributions to her charitable endeavors:
“I wish most sincerely that I could express in writing the gratitude which I and all the members of the women’s section of the Navy League feel towards the public for its co-operation and encouragement in this great work. Without that the task of providing necessary comforts for the men of the navy could not go on and, in these times, when the appeal from many directions is so strong, we appreciate more keenly the friendship that is shown for the men who will sail with our own warships.”1
While Eleanor’s participation with the Red Cross and the Navy League ceased in 1922 after the First World War came to a close and her health took a turn for the worse, the mansion at 1524 N. Lake Shore proved to be a pivotal asset to Eleanor in her charitable endeavors.
- “Mrs. Countiss Thanks City For Aid Given Navy League,” Chicago Examiner, July 29, 1917.
Lisa Atkinson is the Assistant Manager of Programming & Development at IMSS and a Chicago-based composer whose work explores interiority through the tactile nature of live performance and the emotional context of gesture while examining issues of fragility, memory, and perception. As a writer, Atkinson’s music reviews have been featured in the publication Which Sinfonia.