Evanston honored the city’s first female mayor and alderman by dedicating the Civic Center’s aldermanic library to her memory at a ceremony and subsequent reception Monday night.

Joan Barr-Smith was an alderman from 1977-1985 and then served as mayor until 1993 when she went to work for the state’s Department of Employment Security. She died in March following a bout with leukemia.

“After her death, I received dozens of emails, cards, letters, phone calls from people she had helped in some way,” said Barr-Smith’s widower, Wayne Smith, at Monday’s ceremony. “Someone who was sick, someone needing transportation, someone dealing with sick family members, someone who just thanked her for love and kindness … Joan wasn’t the kind to boast about who she helped, she just did it.”

The aldermanic library, located on the second floor of the Civic Center, 2100 Ridge Ave., will now bear Barr-Smith’s name. About 50 Evanston residents and city officials turned out to Monday’s dedication to honor the late former mayor.

During Barr-Smith’s time as mayor, she oversaw economic development of Evanston’s downtown and the construction of the Evanston Public Library. Additionally, she founded a blue ribbon panel on homelessness and served on a number of civic committees throughout her life in addition to holding public office.

She also committed herself to improving the city’s town-gown relations with Northwestern. In 1990, Barr-Smith vetoed a bill that would make Evanston the first city in the country to impose a tuition tax on select tuition-based schools, most notably NU.

“I’d say she’s best known for stopping the tuition tax on students at Northwestern,” Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl told The Daily. “It’s probably the most well-known that she vetoed that measure.”

In addition to her civic responsibilities, Barr-Smith was an ordained deacon in the Episcopalian church, a position she served well into the later years of her life. While she traveled the world as a deacon, Smith said her “heart remained in Evanston.”

“She loved this city — not so much because of the buildings, but because of the wonderful people who lived here,” he said.

Elena Sucharetza contributed reporting.

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