Empowering Voters. Defending Democracy.
Greensfelder-Elam Award
The Greensfelder-Elam Award, established by LWV Chicago in 1980, honors Chicago Leaguers who have demonstrated extraordinary long-term dedication and effectiveness in League work.
2025 Award Recipient
Catherine Mardikes received the 2025 Greensfelder-Elam Award at LWV Chicago’s Annual Meeting on June 28 in recognition of her outstanding service.
Catherine has spearheaded many League projects since joining us in 2017. She led LWV Chicago’s campaign to rename a downtown street after Ida B. Wells. She helped develop the program to register detainees at Cook County Jail to vote and worked on the legislation to require voting machines in Cook County Jail every election.
Catherine coordinates all LWV Chicago candidate forums. She manages our new Election Protection program, which partners the League with Common Cause Illinois and the Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights in order to tackle any problems voters encounter at the polls. She’s organized our voter registration efforts at naturalization ceremonies, where 10,000 new citizens were registered to vote in 2024.
Catherine currently serves on our Board of Directors as Vice President for Membership. Her previous Board leadership roles have included Acting President and Executive Vice President. She is also the founder and co-chair of LWV Chicago’s South Side Unit.
As anyone who knows her can attest, Catherine prefers action over accolades. In her own words at a recent pro-democracy rally, “We’ve all sat around and watched, and now it’s time to get up and do.” If something good is happening in the League, Catherine is either leading it or in the midst of its successful implementation. Please join us in warmly congratulating Catherine!
Who Were Greensfelder and Elam?
Olive Greensfelder, born in 1896, was a charter member of the League. She served for many years as a board member of the Chicago and Cook County League boards. Her special interest was in child welfare, and shortly before her death at the age of 84, she was still testifying at the City Council in favor of increased funding for day care centers. She also served on the Illinois Child Welfare Commission. Following Olive’s death, the Board voted to create the Greensfelder Award, which was first awarded in 1981.
Elinor Elam was the second recipient of the Greensfelder Award in 1982. She had served in a number of Board roles, including as President from 1972-1977, the first person to serve multiple terms. Past recipient Margaret Herring recalls that Elinor regularly observed the City Council and Committees, and she knew quite a bit about the city budget and finances, as well as federal programs that provided support to the city. Jan Flapan, another past recipient, remembers that one year Elinor found a $1 million error in the budget and alerted the administration of Harold Washington. They were so grateful, Jan reports, that the administration hand-delivered a copy of the proposed budget the next year to Elinor at the League office. Following Elinor’s death in the early 1990’s, the Board voted to add Elinor’s name, and it became the Greensfelder-Elam Award.
Past Award Recipients
2024 Pat Wilder
2023 Anne Jamieson
2022 Karen Sandrick
2021 Pris Mims
2020 Patricia Vogtman
2019 Hollis Burgess
2018 Catherine Potkay
2017 Nancy Brandt
2016 Rae Sokolow
2015 Annie Logue
2014 Joan Morton
2013 Leslie Corbett-Chenowith
2012 Patricia Graunke
2011 Carol Ziegeldorf
2010 Esta Kallen
2009 Helene Gabelnick
2008 Bernice Fortini
2007 Rochelle Riffer
2006 Lois Snyder
2005 Emelda Estell
2004 Mimi Gilpin
2003 Priscilla Kersten
2002 Beverly Meyer
2001 Carol Maier
2000 Terry Williams
1999 Winnie Slusser
1998 Clara Fleming
1997 Margaret Herring
1996 Marion Meyerson
1995 Dorothy Scheff
1994 Roberta Wilson
1994 Ruth Hadra
1993 Grace Glicken
1992 Jan Flapan
1991 Martha Brislen
1990 Elizabeth Spiegel
1989 Barbara Page Fiske
1988 Jackie Brown
1987 Edna Pardo
1986 Francis Lee
1985 Betty Willhoite
1984 Pauline Pantsios
1983 Daphne Daume
1982 Eleanor Elam
1981 Charlotte Senechalle