Presidents’ Day is a good day to think about government and what you can do as a citizen to be involved and help it work as effectively as possible.
For decades, I’ve been a member of the League of Women Voters, an organization who’s purpose is to educate citizens so that they can become informed participants in government.
Friday, Feb. 14, 2020, was the 100th anniversary of the founding of the National League of Women Voters. To celebrate, I went to a Gala 100th Birthday Party and High Tea sponsored by the Tacoma.jpgerce County League of Women Voters in Tacoma, Washington. The photo of me at the left was taken at the tea.
Teas played an important role in women getting the vote. Women held “suffrage teas,” where support for the cause was proclaimed. The tea parties also served as fund-raisers.
On Feb. 14, 1920, the National Council of Women Voters merged with the National American Woman Suffrage Association forming the National League of Women Voters, now known as the League of Women Voters of the United States.
The league began in 1920 as an organization designed to help 20 million women carry out their new responsibilities as voters, ahead of the ratification later that year of the 19th Amendment, which ensured and protected the right of women to vote. Today, the league has organizations in all 50 states with more than 750 active state and local leagues.
“As our organization celebrates a century of working to advance voting rights, we are looking forward to our next 100 years of protecting voters and making sure everyone has the information needed to participate in our elections,” said Chris Carson, president of the board of directors of the LWV-US.
For 100 years, the league has fostered an informed electorate through activities such as candidate forums, policy studies, and the voter information resource, VOTE411.
With a commitment to nonpartisanship, not supporting or opposing political parties, the league has fought for pro-democracy measures such as election protection, democratic reforms, equal access to the ballot, and other vital issues, said Carson.
