THE LEAGUE TURNS 84 ON FEBRUARY 14TH!
One way for you to celebrate the League's birthday is to host a birthday party and a movie viewing for the premier of the HBO film, Iron Jawed Angels, on Sunday, February 15th. Check your local listings. HBO's Iron Jawed Angels recounts for a modern audience a key chapter in U.S. history -- the story of suffragists who fought for the right to vote. The movie focuses on two young women, Alice Paul and Lucy Burns, and their fight to build on the previous work of the National American Women's Suffrage Association (NAWSA). The following puts the League and Carrie Catt in the context of the movie:
In 1900, Carrie Chapman Catt, founder of the League of Women Voters, succeeded Susan B. Anthony as the NAWSA president. Anthony saw in Catt the passion and strength needed to keep the women's suffrage movement on track. As president, Catt created a highly organized movement by enhancing the organization and educating people about the movement. Catt sought to reach out to all women, regardless of party, to help win equal voting rights.
One of the many women inspired by Catt's enthusiasm and passion for women's suffrage was Alice Paul. Paul felt that the fight for women's rights was one that required passion. She advocated tactics that were more radical and attention grabbing. The position that Catt and NAWSA held in the fight for women's suffrage allowed Paul to branch off and create the National Women's Party. Although the two groups were separate, they were unified by their common goal.
For Catt, suffragist's strategy was to galvanize support from within the states for the introduction of an amendment to Congress. This state-by-state support would then guarantee the amendment's passage and ratification. The involvement had to be at all levels to be effective; she stated, "We must do both and do them together." Her plan was to introduce women's suffrage legislation at the beginning of the state legislative sessions, thereby taking the opposition by surprise and not allowing them to establish the resources to create an opposing campaign.
The United States' involvement in World War I did not diminish the women's suffrage movement; in fact it helped put a positive spin on it. With all the help and support women gave to the war effort, people looked admirably at them and responded positively to their cause. The women's national war efforts proved their patriotism, and supporters felt that they had earned the right to vote.
The effort by the NAWSA and Catt influenced and inspired many women to join the cause, which was further advanced with a million-dollar donation by these supporters. Catt used the money to establish the Leslie Woman Suffrage Commission and combined various suffrage publications to create the Women's Journal. Ultimately, this publication became the official journal of the League of Women Voters. This commission and various publications made it possible for the NAWSA to intensify its suffrage campaign and expand its outreach and education of voters.
Catt proposed the idea for a League of Women Voters to enable others to "finish the fight" that was begun with the passage of the 19th Amendment. There was a call from Catt to clean up the uneducated and illiterate voter and establish an "intelligent and clean" American electorate. She believed that to become effective voters, women needed to understand the rudiments of voting: how and where to register, how to vote, and what to expect at the voting booths. These newly enfranchised women also needed to understand the issues. Certain issues such as education, social services and women's rights, represented the bonding of the sentiments of women.
Catt dedicated the League of Women Voters to those women who were the forerunners. The League would continue their mission. She focused on encouraging women to give back to their community and children by helping them learn and understand their political freedoms. Catt hoped to create an organization that would continue the enfranchisement of women in our country and in any country where women still struggled. She hoped for a group that would continue to remove the legal discriminations against women, so that other women wouldn't have to surmount these roadblocks. She wanted to make this democracy great and safe for the generations to come.
Today's League of Women Voters continues the proud tradition and remains a nonpartisan political organization that encourages the informed and active participation of citizens in government. The League works to increase understanding of major public policy issues and influences public policy through education and advocacy. Established in February of 1920, the League of Women Voters is the instrument for political education and involvement of women originally envisioned by Carrie Chapman Catt.
--LWVUS
