CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — A street corner in Chicago's Andersonville neighborhood will be renamed as a memorial to Elise Malary, a leading transgender activist, two years after her death.
An honorary street sign at Clark Street and Catalpa Avenue will read "Elise Malary Way."
Malary was 31 when her body was found in Lake Michigan near Evanston’s Garden Park in March 2022. The discovery happened about one week after she disappeared. Investigators said she drowned.
Malary worked in the Civil Rights Bureau at the Illinois Attorney General's Office.
She also worked with Andersonville-based Chicago Therapy Collective, a group that addresses social factors affecting mental health in the trans community.
In 2023, the Chicago Therapy Collective reached its goal of raising over $10,000 to create and maintain a permanent mural honoring Malary’s legacy. Lindsay Doyle, with the nonprofit, previously spoke with WBBM about the mural effort.
“I hope it, you know, honors Elise’s memory and her ultimate decision to sometimes give up some of that increased safety because she felt like that was what she wanted and needed to do for the betterment of the community as a whole,” Doyle said.
The Elise Malary Way honorary street sign will be officially unveiled during a ceremony on the afternoon of March 29.
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