A Legacy of Empowering Democracy: The History of the League of Women Voters of Arkansas
Step back in time and explore the remarkable journey of the League of Women Voters of Arkansas. Since our founding, we have been at the forefront of advocating for women’s suffrage, promoting voter education, and defending democratic principles. Discover the milestones, challenges, and triumphs that have shaped our organization and continue to inspire our work today.
There is probably no other volunteer organization in America that inspires such a great degree of commitment from its members. As a direct result of that commitment, the League of Women Voters has evolved from what it was in 1920, a mighty political experiment designed to help 20 million enfranchised women carry out their new responsibilities, to what it is today: a unique, nonpartisan organization that is a recognized force in molding political leaders, shaping public policy, and promoting informed citizen participation at all levels of government.
The Birth of A Movement
- In 1920, the League of Women Voters of Arkansas was established as a pioneering force for women’s suffrage. Suffragette Florence Cotnam of Little Rock became the first LWVAR president and gave the keynote address at the first League of Women Voters national convention on February 14, 1920. With unwavering determination, our founders laid the groundwork for civic engagement, advocating for the rights of women to participate fully in the democratic process.
Expanding Voter Access:
- Throughout our early history, the League of Women Voters of Arkansas supported the purchase of voting machines and worked in the movement to abolish the poll tax. We continue to play a vital role in promoting voter education and expanding access to the ballot box. Through lawsuits fighting voter suppression bills, educational initiatives, registration drives, and advocacy efforts, we empower countless Arkansans to exercise their fundamental right to vote.
National League of Women Voters History:
A Century-Long Legacy
- Discover the milestones, challenges, and triumphs that have shaped the League of Women Voters and continue to inspire our work today. There is probably no other volunteer organization in America that inspires such a great degree of commitment from its members. As a direct result of that commitment, the League of Women Voters has evolved from what it was in 1920, a mighty political experiment designed to help 20 million enfranchised women carry out their new responsibilities, to what it is today: a unique, nonpartisan organization that is a recognized force in molding political leaders, shaping public policy, and promoting informed citizen participation at all levels of government.
- 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. In 1919, President Carrie Chapman Catt proposed the creation of a league of women voters to “finish the fight” and aid in the reconstruction of the nation. And so a League of Women Voters was formed within NAWSA, composed of the organizations in the states where woman suffrage had already been attained. Catt described the purpose of the new organization:
“The League of Women Voters is not to dissolve any present organization but to unite all existing organizations of women who believe in its principles. It is not to lure women from partisanship but to combine them in an effort for legislation that will protect coming movements, which we cannot even foretell, from suffering the untoward conditions which have hindered for so long the coming of equal suffrage. Are the women of the United States big enough to see their opportunity?”
The 1920s:
By 1924, 23 state leagues, including AR, and 15 city Leagues, including Fayetteville, maintained regular business headquarters, nearly all with one or more paid staff. The League’s first major national legislative success was the passage of the Sheppard-Towner Act providing federal aid for maternal and child care programs.
During this time the League also set up classes to train volunteer teachers for citizenship schools, organized institutes to study defects in our system of government, initiated “Know Your Town” surveys, candidate questionnaires and meetings, and nationwide get-out-the-vote campaign activities. In 1928, the League sponsored “Meet the Candidates,” the first national radio broadcast of a candidate forum
The 1930s:
The depression of the 1930s and the onset of WWII brought far-reaching change to the League. Membership fell and the League’s budget was cut in half necessitating a major reduction in staff and services to Leagues. Perhaps the most important change was that because of gas rationing, League members started meeting in small groups within their neighborhoods to discuss fundamental issues. Grassroots activity thus was firmly institutionalized as a way of assessing concerns, studying and strategizing.
During this time League members worked successfully for enactment of the Social Security and Food and Drug Acts, as well as the TVA. In 1934, when federal and state government agencies were hiring thousands of employees to administer the new social and economic laws, the League launched a nationwide campaign in support of the merit system for selecting government personnel. In those years the League was the only organizations acting consistently for the merit system. And due in part to the League’s efforts, legislated passed in 1938 and 1940 which removed hundreds of federal jobs from the spoils systems and placed them under Civil Service.
The 1940s:
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 League business. During the post World War II period, the League helped lead the effort to establish the United Nations and to ensure U.S. participation.
The League was one of the first organizations in the country officially recognized by the United Nations as a non-governmental organizations (NGO); it still maintains official observer status today and has special consultative status to the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
The League also supported the creation of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, as well as NATO, economic aid to less developed countries and the Marshall Plan.
The 1950s:
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. Next came an evaluation of the federal loyalty/security programs and ultimately a League position that strongly emphasized the protection of individual rights.
The 1960s:
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. Membership reached a high point in 1969.
The 1970s:
In the 1970s, the League of Women Voters amended our bylaws to allow men to join the League as full voting members. We also began our efforts to achieve a national Equal Rights Amendment, an effort that ultimately failed. In 1976, the League sponsored the first televised presidential debates since 1960, for which it received an Emmy award for Outstanding Achievement in Broadcast Journalism.
The 1980s:
In the 1980’s we were at the forefront of the struggle to pass the Voting Rights Act Amendments of 1982 and contributed significantly to the enactment of the historic Tax Reform Act of 1986. During the 1984-88 period, the League adopted a long-range strategic plan which restructured and streamlined League Boards, and leadership training, and placed an emphasis on modern techniques of management and communications.
These steps are evidence of the League’s efforts to adapt to the realities of a changing world and to ensure its place as the leading civic organization in the United States. The League also sponsored Presidential debates in 1980 and 1984. In 1983 the League adopted a position on public policy on reproductive choice.
The 1990s:
The League launched “Take Back the System,” a voter campaign to reclaim government and elections, and sponsored a Presidential Primary Debate in 1992. In 1993 the League won passage of the National Voter Registration Act, better known as Motor Voter.
In the last years of the decade, the issue for emphasis, Making Democracy Work, included increasing voter turnout, campaign finance reform, civic education, civic participation, and voting representation for the residents of the District of Columbia.
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.
In 2004, the League received the Civic Change award from the Pew Partnership for Civic Change. Vote411, a “one-stop-shop” voter education website, was launched in 2006. In 2020, Vote411.org won a Webby People’s Voice Award for Best Government & Civil Innovation website.
Today we have Leagues in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Hong Kong, in addition to the hundreds of local Leagues nationwide.
Modernizing Democracy:
As the political landscape evolved, so did the League of Women Voters of Arkansas. 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.
In recent years, we have embraced innovative approaches to voter education and engagement, harnessing technology and community partnerships to empower citizens and safeguard the integrity of our democratic process.