History
LWV’s history
dates back to 1920. That year, at its Victory Convention in Chicago,
the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) voted to
reconstitute itself as the National League of Women Voters. Its
mission was the political education of new women voters.
NAWSA President Carrie
Chapman Catt proposed a League of Women Voters "to finish the
fight" and "aid in the reconstruction of the nation."
The fight to be finished was winning the vote for women and ending
political and legal discrimination against women. Reconstruction
of the nation meant strengthening American democracy in a chaotic
post-war-period by educating citizens. (The League of Women Voters
in Perspective: 1920-1924)
It wasn't until the
1946 convention that the name was changed to the League of Women
Voters of the United States to emphasize the shift from being a
federation of state Leagues to being a member-based organization.
Today, LWV is concerned
with political education and action on a wide variety of local,
state, national and international issues, including governmental
reform, natural resources, social policy, and international relations.
LWV publicizes the views
and qualifications of political candidates of all parties and works
for legislation in the public interest. Leagues exist in each state,
the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands, and Hong Kong, with
national headquarters in Washington, DC. The League of Women Voters
of Oregon is composed of approximately 1500 members, within sixteen
local Leagues and a Portland regional League.
For more information:
League Through the Decades (12 pgs; pdf)
More Power
than We Knew: The League of Women Voters in Oregon 1920-1995.
Mary Alice More, Donald E. Moore, published by the LWV of Oregon,
1995
Available for in-office use from LWV
of Oregon
The following books can
be purchased from the League of Women Voters through its publications
catalogue:
The League of Women Voters in Perspective 1920-1995.
Nancy M. Neuman, published by the LWVUS, 1994
Women in Action: Rebels and Reformers 1920-1980.
Elisabeth Israels Perry,
published by the LWV Education Fund, 1995
For the Public Record: A Documentary History of the League
of Women Voters.
Barbara Stuhler, published by the LWV Education Fund, 2003
All historical documents
of the League of Women Voters of Oregon are stored at the
University
of Oregon Special Collections . An online listing of contents
can be accessed at the Northwest
Digital Archives
For more background on
the women's suffrage movement, view an online exhibit at the National
Museum of Women's History . |
