Myra Reynolds

Myra Reynolds (1853–1936), scholar and professor of English, studied and taught at Vassar College before coming to the University of Chicago as a graduate student and eventually rising to full professor. In 1893, Reynolds accompanied a political economy class to the Stockyards district on the southwest side of Chicago in order to assess the area’s needs. The following year, with encouragement from Jane Addams of Hull House, she helped with the founding of the University of Chicago Settlement, an initiative that sought to bring about municipal reform through a combination of idealism and practical field work. This portrait, showing Reynolds in her academic robes, was commissioned by friends of the University and may have been painted during one of Chase’s visits to Chicago.