“Before I started work that first day here I drove past every location that my family ever lived.”
This was Chief Schenita Stewart as she described her first day of work as Evanston’s Chief of Police. She reflected on her childhood and career in an interview with Laurice Bell and Ron Whitmore on the Evanston Rules podcast in June 2024.
Chief Stewart made history in October 2022 when she was sworn in as Evanston’s first Black female chief of police. A month earlier, her twin sister, Schonella Stewart, was promoted to Commander of the Investigations and Community Policing Unit of the Oak Park Police Department.
Both women rose through the ranks of law enforcement through many years of hard work. Today, they are role models in the communities they serve and both have received well-deserved praise and honors for the ways in which they approach their profession and connect with their communities.
But these two successful women are more than public servants; as Chief Stewart sees it, they are the product of all that came before them: their family members, neighbors, friends, teachers and mentors all had a hand in helping them grow up and flourish; the city of Evanston and their 5th ward neighborhood also raised them; and the generations of their family members, even those they never knew, guided them. In all they do, they are keenly aware of what brought them to this moment, what came before them. And that spirit seems to motivate them to serve with profound dedication and purpose.
For both women, it is their deep connection to their own family’s long history in Evanston that has provided the foundation for their success and their deep gratitude.
Many Generations: The Stewarts in Evanston
“My Papa William Stewart told us that all Stewarts come from a strong tree with deep roots in the ground. No matter what storms and rains come our way, we remain strong and unwavering.” – Schonella Stewart
Almost eight decades before Schenita and Schonella posed for the above yearbook photos, their ancestors began planting roots in Evanston. Around 1912, their great aunt, Mamie Griffin (1888-1973) arrived in Evanston from Abbeville, South Carolina; she was followed by others, including the Stewart sisters’ great-grandparents: John H. Stewart (1900-1974) and Annie Bell Jay Stewart (c. 1904-1992), also from Abbeville.
The Stewarts’ relatives were part of a wave of Black Abbeville residents who came to Evanston in the early 20th century. They arrived looking for opportunities, for a safe place to raise their families. Their migration was spurred by the horrors of the Jim Crow South – Abbeville was the notorious site of the murder of Anthony Crawford, a wealthy Black farmer and landowner who was lynched by a white mob in the town square on October 21, 1916. Many of Crawford’s relatives came to Evanston in the wake of that unpunished crime and many other Abbeville residents would follow.
“Growing up my Papa Stewart would always tell us the story,” Schonella Stewart recalls of hearing about Anthony Crawford. Their grandfather would tell them that even though they might not have the same names as the other residents of Evanston’s 5th Ward, they were bound together by history. “He would remind us,” Schonella said, that their community “was the same shared community generations later that had made a safe passage together from Abbeville, SC in 1916. He said that’s why we always help one another, work with one another, build homes for one another, etc. That they all shared community previously in Abbeville.”
The Stewart sisters’ family had deep roots in Abbeville.
In 1899, two Abbeville residents, 16-year-old Christine and 19-year-old Dora Jay were married.
According to the U.S. census, neither had the opportunity to attend school and neither knew how to read or write. They lived in Long Cane, Abbeville, South Carolina, where they rented a home and worked as farmers. They were surrounded by neighbors who also worked as farmers. In Abbeville at the time – just over three decades after the abolition of slavery – most Black residents were unable to purchase land; they faced limited work and educational opportunities; and they lived within the confines of the racist laws and limitations of the Jim Crow South.
Also in Abbeville in 1910, 11-year-old John Henry Stewart was working as a farm laborer alongside his parents, Martin and Emma, and two older brothers. By 1918, 18-year-old Stewart was working on a farm in Due West, Abbeville, South Carolina, a fact he noted when he registered for the World War I draft in Abbeville.
Sometime in the 1920s, John Henry Stewart married Annie Bell Jay. The couple soon moved north.
By 1930, the Stewarts were living at 2014 W Railroad Ave in Evanston. Annie Bell was working as a domestic worker in a private household and John was working for the Marquette Coal and Mining Co in Evanston. He would work for the company for 38 years.
After settling in Evanston, in the 1930s, John Stewart became a founding member of Long Memorial Church, now known as Springfield Baptist Church, located at 1801 Emerson St. He served on the church’s board for more than 30 years. He also worked as the groundskeeper for the church. Aside from her daily job as a domestic worker, Annie Bell also served as a nurse at the church.
The Stewarts had three children: Christine Stewart (Robinson), William H. Stewart, (1933-2006), and John Stewart, Jr. nicknamed, “Possum.”
The sisters remember growing up with Annie Bell and John Stewart living nearby at their house at 1810 Hartrey Ave. Schonella remembers that their childhood was shaped by the traditions that their great-grandparents brought to Evanston from Abbeville. “A lot of the traditions from the South never changed even though we lived in Illinois,” Schonella said. “My family still had fish on Sundays.”
William Stewart, the son of Annie Bell and John Stewart, was the Stewart sister’s grandfather. He played a significant role in their lives; They lived with him and their grandmother at 2217 Lyons Street until they were 6 years old. After their grandmother died, they also grew close to their grandfather’s “soul mate, “Geraldine McCain, whom the sisters called “Ms. Dee Dee.” “It’s not often that I’m at a loss for words,” Schonella said in recalling her, “so I’ll just state, ‘She taught me how to love unconditionally.’ ”
The Stewart sisters attended Gale School on Howard Street. They grew up in the 5th Ward where their lives revolved around their home at 1924 Wesley Ave and other nearby neighborhood locations including the Fleetwood Jourdain Center, Family Focus, and Mt. Zion Baptist Church. Their childhood world may have been small geographically, but it was infinitely large in terms of the love and protection it provided them.
Their family struggled at times; their mother, Marion Stewart-Moss worked two or three jobs at a time to help raise her daughters and things were not always easy. School was their “safe haven” and they felt protected by the larger, tight-knit community where everyone looked out for everyone else.
Their mother was “involved in everything that we did,” Schonella recalled. “She was at Church, volunteered at our school, helped other children whose parents couldn’t volunteer.” And their father, Michael Stewart, and grandfather, William Stewart, “always collaborated to have Schenita and I focused on education and sports.”
At Mt. Zion Baptist Church, their paternal grandmother, Laura Stewart, and the late Delores Holmes were their Sunday School teachers. Both women played a central role in the sisters’ lives. At Fleetwood Jourdain Center they found another loving care taker, Mamie Lee Smith-Faust (1953-2012) – affectionately called “Ms. Mamie” – who served as the center’s director from 1984 to 2008. These women provided the sisters with “a rich sense of belonging [and] support,” Schonella recalls. And it was at the Fleetwood Jourdain Center that the sisters found their “first opportunity for employment.”
Within this tightly bound community, the sisters grew up proud of their family history. In the 5th Ward, as Schonella recalled, “everyone knew everyone and you were known by your last name.”
Both sisters were proud to be a “Stewart.”
“I was proud to wear my last name on my sports uniforms, prior to wearing it on my police uniform,” Schonella said. “My grandfather would tell Schenita and I when someone challenged us, ‘Did you tell them you were a Stewart?’ ”
Part of the Stewart tradition in Evanston was attending Evanston Township High School (ETHS). “My grandfather William H. Stewart went there,” Schenita said of the family’s long line of ETHS graduates, “and my grandfather was ’52; Michael Stewart, my father, was ‘72 . . . and me and my twin sister, ‘92.”
By the time the sisters enrolled at ETHS in 1988, some people expected they would become cheerleaders, owing to the Stewarts’ long history of involvement in school athletics. But instead, they chose to play basketball, both becoming well-known for their prowess on the court.
After graduating from ETHS, Schenita earned a bachelor’s degree in Criminology from Illinois State University and Schonella earned her degree at Barber-Scotia College, a historically black college in North Carolina where she studied Sociology and Criminal Justice.
They also pursued graduate studies: Schonella earned a Master of Social Work (MSW) from Chicago State University and Schenita earned a Master’s degree in Criminal Justice from Chicago State University.
It was Schenita’s grandfather, William Stewart, who first suggested that she apply for a position with the Lincolnwood Police Department. She would go on to pass all the rigorous required exams and tests and she would serve on that force more than 21 years, eventually being appointed Deputy Chief, a position she held from 1999-2021. She was the only Black police officer on the force. She then served as Deputy Chief of the East Dundee Police Department before being appointed Evanston’s Chief of Police in 2022.
Before entering law enforcement, Schonella worked as a social worker for the Department of Children and Family Services and the Illinois Department of Human Services. In 2006 she joined the Oak Park Police Department as a patrol officer. She was quickly promoted to detective and sergeant before being appointed Commander of Investigations and Community Policing Unit.
For Schenita, as she rose through the ranks of law enforcement and faced the challenges of such a demanding profession, she recognized that she had “been prepared by people that love me.”
Schonella also sees their childhood and growing up in Evanston as preparation for their work: “When I think of the professional career paths that Schenita and I took, it seems to be fitting,” she said. “The phrase ‘we are our brother’s keeper’ emphasizes a shared responsibility to care for and protect others, particularly those in need, and is rooted in Biblical teachings and often used in a modern context to highlight compassion and empathy.”
Both also welcome the ability to serve as role models for young people, to show them “what their own possibilities are,” as Schenita said. She is proud to play that role for youth, “so they have people to look up to, to say this is what the future holds for you.”
Still, both recognize how it can be “overwhelming at times,” as Schenita noted, when they contemplate the long road of sacrifices their family members made to bring them to this point: Their great grandmother, who had a 4th-grade education; their great-great grandparents who labored on a farm, denied the opportunity to learn to read or write; the hard work and struggles that they faced in the South; and their courage in fleeing the violence of Abbeville.
These are the stories that the sisters carry with them, like small, persistent chords of memory’s music; their melodies give them energy and form their unwavering commitment to give back, to protect their communities from violence, and to see beyond themselves and look to the future and the legacies they will leave others.
Home, to both sisters, remains the community that raised them. And it’s a place that is still in their hearts.
“Why not go home?” Schenita said of her choice to accept the position as Evanston’s Chief of Police. While her successful career in law enforcement could have taken her anywhere, she chose Evanston. “Why not be in the community that raised me?” she said.
After all, “I’m still Willie Stewart’s granddaughter,” she said.
Many thanks to Schonella and Schenita Stewart for sharing their stories, memories, and family photographs.
And thanks to Richard Cahan for allowing us to use the photo of Schonella and Schenita Stewart.
Written by Jenny Thompson, PhD
Sources:
Sharyn Kane and Richard Keeton, In Those Days: African-American Life Near the Savannah River, 1994; Interview by Laurice Bell and Ron Whitmore with Schenita Stewart, Evanston Rules, May 22, 2024; Schonella Stewart, written responses to questions posed by Shorefront, 2025; Caroline Paulison Andrew, “Sisters in Law: Identical Twins Lead by Living Their Truth,” Center for Public Safety, Northwestern University, August 29, 2024; Richard Cahan, “Evanston’s Homegrown New Police Chief Sworn In,” Evanston Roundtable, October 11, 2022; Gina Castro, “Evanston’s First Female Police Chief Shares Top Priorities,” Evanston Roundtable, October 20, 2022; U.S. Census Records; City Directories; Selective Service Registrations; Birth, Marriage, Death Records (Ancestry.com); Evanston Review; Evanston Newsette; CCC Evanston Newsette; and ETHS yearbooks.
