League of Women Voters of the Pensacola Bay Area

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Happy 90th Birthday

Happy 90th birthday to the League of Women Voters

February 2010, the League of Women Voters celebrated its 90th birthday.

In February 1920, after a 72-year struggle, passage of the 19th amendment appeared imminent. Members of the National American Woman Suffrage Association convened to form the League of Women Voters to “finish the fight” and to work to end all discrimination against women.

While initially concerned with women’s rights, the League gradually expanded its interests to include issues affecting the whole community. Today, the League works to effect change on a wide variety of issues including health care, education, climate change, land use, and election and campaign finance reform.

But at its heart, the League of Women Voters is a direct descendent of American women’s fight to gain that most basic element of equality, a voice at the ballot box.

It took about 150 years for American women to achieve what the legendary suffragist Susan B. Anthony called “the pivotal right.”

As we honor American women’s struggle for equality, we are certainly aware that that in some parts of the world, women, and men, are still fighting and sometimes, dying, for that most pivotal element of citizenship: the power to determine the course of our own communities by participating in civic life.

And yet, despite our horror at other cultures’ lingering inequalities, 90 years after winning our own hard-fought victory, many American women, and men, now enjoy the luxury of taking Ms. Anthony’s “pivotal right” for granted.

Too often, people just don’t vote.

The League of Women Voters was created by visionary women like Ms. Anthony to help newly enfranchised citizens carry out their full civic responsibilities.

Today, the best way to honor those ladies is by exercising the very rights they worked so hard to win.

Almost a century later, the League’s mission to make that happen is as timely as ever.

The work we do is twofold:

On our nonpartisan Voter Services side, we continue our long tradition of helping register voters and get out the vote. We also work to help educate voters on a variety of public policy issues. The League believes that an informed voter is a responsible voter.

On our advocacy side, we study a range of issues and form supporting or opposing positions, based on careful research and consideration.

Oftentimes, that just involves sitting in on government meetings. Public meetings everywhere tend to be sparsely attended. Most voters don’t have the time to follow what’s going on in their local government. Part of our job at the League is to keep an eye on those details and advocate for issues that have a major impact on the community.

Frequently, League members are the only people present at hearings where far reaching issues like rezoning, the environment, and big spending are decided.

The League is currently following a number of local issues, and we’ve offered substantial input as needed, including Escambia County’s comprehensive plan changes, which will shape long term area growth patterns for generations; Pensacola City charter reform, and a host of environmental topics.

Through those and other projects, The League of Women Voters’ mission is an ongoing homage to inspirational women of the past and present, who have worked so hard to ensure our democracy remains grounded in a firm foundation of civic equality.

The League of Women Voters takes seriously our legacy of providing nonpartisan, trustworthy and balanced resources to citizens and lawmakers. Over the last 90 years, the League has left its footprint on American history, and our democracy is stronger for it. We look forward to continuing to strengthen our democracy over the next 90 years.

In that spirit, I would urge all citizens to do their part to honor America’s visionary women.

The great thing is-- it’s easy.

All you have to do is register and vote. And if you have time, get involved in your community government issues. After all, “pivotal rights” are only truly won when they’re exercised in full.

With volunteers organized into 850 chapters across the country, membership in the League is open to men and women of all ages.

For more information call 449-1746 or visit our website at www.lwvpba.org.

Deborah Nelson, President
League of Women Voters of the Pensacola Bay Area
2/1/10

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The League Through the Decades

The Founding
From the spirit of the suffrage movement and the shock of the First World War came a great idea - that a nonpartisan civic organization could provide the education and experience the public needed to assure the success of democracy. The League of Women Voters was founded on that idea.

The 1920's
Since the League had inherited its structure from the National American Women Suffrage Association, in 1920 it was a federation of affiliated state Leagues, most of which had been in existence as state headquarters of the NAWSA.

The 1930's
The depression of the 1930s and the onset of World War II brought far-reaching change to the League.

The 1940's
The 1944 convention made major changes in the basic structure of the League, proclaiming it an association of members, rather than a federation of state leagues, and abolishing the department system of managing the various facets of the League program.

The 1950's
The witch hunt period of the early fifties inspired the League to undertake a two-year community education program focusing on the individual liberties guaranteed by the Constitution.

The 1960's
In response to the growing civil rights crisis of the 1960s the League directed its energies to equality of opportunity and built a solid foundation of support for equal access to education, employment and housing.

The 1970's
The 1974 convention also amended the bylaws to allow men to join the League as full voting members.

The 1980's
The League was in the forefront of the struggle to pass the Voting Rights Act Amendments of 1982 and contributed significantly to enactment of the historic Tax Reform Act of 1986.

The 1990's
The League launched “Take Back the System”, a voter campaign to reclaim government and elections and sponsored a Presidential Primary Debate in 1992.

The 21st Century
The League was instrumental in the enactment of the Help America Vote Act of 2002 and the Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act of 2002. The League worked to renew the Voting Rights Act, and filed a number of amicus briefs relating to campaign finance reform issues, racial bias in jury selection and Title IX.

Conclusion
While the League's programs, priorities and procedures have changed over the years to meet changing times, a League pamphlet written in 1919 describes with remarkable accuracy its basic aims today: The organization has three purposes to foster education in citizenship, to promote forums and public discussion of civic reforms and to support needed legislation.