‘Fuse Box Lady’ who lived at Harris address shocked to learn of VP connection - Evanston RoundTable

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She and the vice president both lived for a time at the same Evanston address. Who knew?

Not Elizabeth Shemin, until a Facebook friend sent her the recent RoundTable story about 620 Library Place, where Kamala Harris lived with her family while dad Donald served as visiting professor of economics during the 1967-68 academic year. Shemin said she’s a big fan of the Democratic presidential nominee and was tickled to learn of the connection.

“It just blew me away,” said Shemin, who now lives with her husband in Boston. “This is 54 years ago. I almost feel like writing her and saying, ‘Hello, we lived in the same house.’”

Shemin’s father was head of the biochemistry department at Northwestern University in 1969 when her parents moved into the house. Elizabeth, then 20, was studying at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, but would stay with her family on breaks. The self-proclaimed “flower child” decided during one of those visits to leave a message for future residents, by penning a note in the fuse box on the back stairs.

“I just wanted to have a little thing that said we lived there, so if anyone found it, we would not be anonymous,” Shemin said.

Many years later, after she was married and living in Boston and her parents had moved to another Evanston home, Shemin returned to 620 Library Place and found it had been converted to administrative offices.

“I went in and asked to go upstairs and look in the fuse box and the note was still there. Whoever was with me said, ‘Oh my God, I never even noticed that.’ She might have told some other people at the time, but after that I guess it was just forgotten.”

Shemin said she has many happy memories of being in the house and living in Evanston.

“I thought it was a really cool town. It had everything you could need in a very small space and everything was in walking distance. My parents loved the house. I think we all loved the house.”

There were four or five bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a “great kitchen with a wonderful pantry,” Shemin said. Her parents particularly enjoyed the backyard.

Shemin’s niece Jennifer Wharton, who still lives in Evanston, used to visit the family on Library Place. “She loves the house too,” Shemin said. “She wants to go see it again. I said, ‘Just tell them that you’re the niece of the woman who wrote the note in the fuse box.’ I guess I will be forever known as the ‘Fuse Box Lady.’”

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Nancy McLaughlin is an Evanston-based freelance writer who has a fascination for the everyday events that shape our community in extraordinary ways. She covers human interest stories for the RoundTable. More by Nancy McLaughlin