Librarian and historian Toni Tucker came to the estate once known as Sunset Hill 14 years ago—and the outgoing steward of the present-day Ewing Cultural Center said she's leaving the place better than she found it.
Tucker's career at Illinois State University began 38 years ago at the Mennonite College of Nursing.
“…and then I was the associate dean of Milner Library prior to me accepting the position here at Ewing Cultural Center,” she said.
Tucker said the Illinois State University Foundation acquired the property in 1970 after Hazel Buck Ewing died. She and Davis Ewing built the property, though Davis Ewing only lived there a few years.
By the time Tucker arrived as director in 2012, the house had fallen into disrepair.
“The Foundation board hired a historical architect company out of Chicago … and they put together a 25-year restoration plan,” Tucker said.
It included refurbishing or replacing windows and doors, tuckpointing the stone façade and the slate roof.
“Over the last 14 years we’ve accomplished that plan,” she said.
Eleven years early. But perhaps more than the structural improvements, Tucker said opening Ewing Manor to the public is one of her finest accomplishments.
“Families that for generations have grown up in Bloomington would say, ‘We were never allowed on the property,’” Tucker said.
But on a hot Tuesday morning, two women and a toddler had come to relish the estate's natural breezes and shade as staff watered the billowing flower planters.
Tucker said that was always Hazel Buck Ewing’s intention.
“Reading Hazel’s will, she wanted to be someplace for the community to enjoy the gardens and the home.”
Ewing is also home to Illinois Shakespeare Festival and has home tours throughout much of the year. During the day, the gates are open for people to walk, gaze and linger awhile.
“One of my charges when I started from my vice president was: Read the will and be true to that,” Tucker said. “And that’s what I did.”
'She gave quietly'
June 30 is Tucker’s final day in the office, but she’s not going far. After a well-deserved break, she plans to continue volunteering at the cultural center, including caring for its recently endowed archive. She also has a couple of books planned: One about the manor itself and one about the family leading up to the estate’s centennial anniversary in 2028.
It’s those stories of the people and the place which have captured and held Tucker’s attention over the years.
“Being in Bloomington-Normal, I never hear of the Ewing family,” she said. “We hear of the Stevensons and the David Davises, but the Ewing family were just as influential. Davis [Ewing]’s grandfather was the fifth mayor of Bloomington, was a good friend of Abraham Lincoln’s—and I thought, there’s a story there.”
Then there’s the lady of the house, who Tucker said made a substantial difference in the community.
“Millions she gave quietly,” she said.
The list of volunteers at Ewing Cultural Center hovers at around 50, with about 20 who regularly serve as docents on home tours or work in the archives. Docent Dan Leifel stopped by Tuesday morning ahead of the evening’s retirement party for Tucker to present a pair of original paintings commissioned for the occasion.
“You have no idea what this lady has done,” he said. “Incomprehensible. And that’s easy to say.”
The paintings are of two views of the house: one from the east looking through the portico to the surprisingly humble front door, the other a view of the courtyard. Leifel said Tucker could pick one for herself, the other will go into the archives. She picked the courtyard view. In it, you can see her office and the stables. That’s what sealed the deal.
It was the docents, including Leifel, who organized and paid for the paintings, and they arguably love Ewing Cultural Center as much as Tucker does.
When Leifel first looked at the paintings he said he was nervous the slate roof was depicted as too blue. The artist took reference photos at 6 p.m.
“I came over to take a look at it, and it’s amazing what the sun does,” he said. “Because the sun is obviously behind [in the painting], and that is exactly the way the slate looks at 6 o’clock.”
