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The Unexpected Revolution

A Celebration of the 90th Anniversary of the League of Women Voters and the passage of the 19th amendment to the United States Constitution

Thursday, February 25, 7:15 p.m.
Blacksburg Town Council Chambers

Video of Presentations Available online

The Fear of ‘Petticoat Politics:’ Why Women As Well As Men Opposed Woman Suffrage

by Marian Mollin

Marian Mollin is associate professor and associate chair of the Department of History at Virginia Tech. Her research explores the connections between gender, protest, activism, and culture, with a focus on the history of American social movements.

Her first book, Radical Pacifism in Modern America: Egalitarianism and Protest (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2006) examines the complex nature of men’s and women’s political protest within the radical wing of the American peace movement from 1940 through 1970. She is working on a biography of Sister Ita Ford, one of the four churchwomen murdered by the El Salvadoran military in 1980. Ford’s life provides a opportunity to explore how gender and religious faith intersected to shape identity and participation in transnational efforts for social justice.

Difference or Equality? Women’s Policy Initiatives after Suffrage

by Karen Holt

Karen Hult, a League member, has been a professor in the Department of Political Science at Virginia Tech since 1990. She is a national expert on the presidency. Among her recent publications is a book co-authored with Charles Walcott, Governing the White House: From Hoover through LBJ which was honored with the 1996 Richard E. Neustadt Award for Best Book on the U.S. Presidency published in 1995.

Among her publications are Empowering the white House: Governance under Nixon, Ford and Carter, Women as Executive Branch Leaders Rethinking Madam President: Are We Ready for a Woman in the White House and Local community Groups and the Internet.

The League of Women Voters was founded on February 14, 1920, following the passage of the 19th Amendment which gave women the right to vote, at the last meeting of the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA).

National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA), the predecessor to the League of Women Voters, was instrumental in pushing for equal rights for both African Americans and women and for universal suffrage (the right to vote should be given to all people). The Fifteenth (15th) Amendment was proposed in 1867 which allowed black men the right to vote. The push continued to make it legal for women to vote. Many of the women involved in this movement endured some very harsh times. HBO's movie "Iron Jawed Angels," produced in 2004, illustrated many of their experiences.. A preview of that movie is available on the YouTube site: Preview for HBO film Iron Jawed Angels. This movie is available on DVD and is frequently provided to the public by groups who value the history of women's sufferage.

The League of Women Voters of Virginia has published Virginia Women & The Vote 1909-2009: A 100-Year History of the Equal Suffrage League & The League of Women Voters in Virginia. A press release concerning the release of this book is available at the League of Women Voters of Virginia web site at: http://lwv-va.org/files/virginia_women_and_the_vote.pdf . The League of Women Voters of Virginia has made this available for a donation of $10 at their publications web site. The funds generated go to the League of Women Voters of Virginia Education Fund and are a tax-deductible donation.

That was just the beginning. Once women obtained the right to vote, the League of Women Voters was formed to "help 20 million women carry out their new responsibilities as voters" (from "Our History" at the League of Women Voters of the United States web site). Since its inception, the League of Women Voters has been a consistent force in encouraging public involvement and education, both of members and the public, concerning our government and the rights of citizens to be active participants in that government. The League has not limited itself to only those things pertaining to our local, state and national government. Following World War II, the League of Women Voters were involved in helping to establish the United Nations.

Through all of the changes and growth, the League of Women Voters has held to certain values: (from "Our History" at the League of Women Voters of the United States web site)

  • From the beginning, the League was an activist, grassroots organization whose leaders believed that citizens should play a critical role in advocacy.
  • It was then, and is now, a nonpartisan organization.
  • League members were encouraged to be political themselves, by educating citizens about, and lobbying for, government and social reform legislation.
  • The League is proud to be nonpartisan, neither supporting nor opposing candidates or political parties at any level of government, but always working on vital issues of concern to members and the public.

The 90th Birthday of the League of Women Voters is not only about celebration. It is about remembering. Remembering those for whom the right to vote was but a dream. Remembering those people who had the courage to stand against the odds to express their wishes. Remembering those who suffered and died due to opposition of those who would have kept women silent. It is also about remembering what it is that we have to lose when we stop watching, questioning, speaking, writing, and calling to keep those rights which were won at such cost.

Happy Birthday League of Women Voters. A celebration is, indeed, warranted for all of those from the past, all of those today, and all of those in the future, whether men or women, who will continue the journey. A celebration, not of balloons and cakes, but one of remembering the past, appreciating where we are today, and continuing to strive for an even greater future.

Here are some additional online resources concerning the 19th Amendment and the road to getting it passed:

Here are some additional online resources concerning the History of the League of Women Voters:

League of Women Voters: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow (some Virgina League sites)
League of Women Voters of Montgomery County, VA
P.O. Box 10133
Blacksburg, VA 24062-0133
540-552-2717
http://lwvmcva.org/
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