Bina Deneen

Bina Deneen (née Maloney; February 14, 1868 – October 30, 1950) was an American civic leader who served as the First Lady of Illinois from 1904 to 1912. She was the first two-term first lady of Illinois, and the first to give birth in the Illinois Executive Mansion. She was the wife of Charles S. Deneen. Known at the time as "the ideal wife for a governor" She studied at the Mount Carroll Seminary (later known as Shimer College), exiting in 1890. Although then as now primarily a liberal arts institution, the school also offered courses in stenography and typewriting. Deneen performed well enough in her studies to be hired as an instructor of these subjects in 1889 and 1890.

Subsequently, she moved to Chicago and worked briefly as a stenographer

Political career

Deneen played ae part in each of her husband's campaigns, although chiefly behind the scenes. She was the first First Lady of Illinois to have a child while living in the governor's mansion—her fourth child, Bina, born in 1906—a feat that would not be repeated until the birth of Samantha Thompson in 1978. She remains the only First Lady of Illinois to give birth in the executive mansion.

As First Lady of Illinois, Deneen was in charge of entertaining the various visitors to the executive mansion. Notable among these were president William Howard Taft, for whom a special ramp had to be installed, as well as former president Theodore Roosevelt, and the French and British ambassadors.

Like many other early Shimer College alumnae, Bina was active in the woman's club movement. She served as president of the Englewood Woman's Club, dedicated to the "promotion of the highest interest of humanity through Sociological, Literary, Educational, Art, and Music work," and was also active in the Chicago Woman's Club, which she joined in 1915. She was also active in the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Englewood. but stumped actively for her husband during his final, failed Senate campaign in 1930. The 61st political bombing in Chicago that year, it marked a significant turning point in the campaign, which ended in a decisive victory for the Deneenites. Mrs. Deneen's calm response was considered noteworthy; she recalled later that "as we were in Washington and no one was hurt, and none of my paintings and books in the front of the house were damaged to any extent, I felt it hardly called for hysterics." She survived her husband by ten years. The home where the Deneens lived in Englewood still stands at 457 W. 61st Place in Chicago.