HomeHistory of League

The Early Years

1919: The League’s Beginnings

In her address to the National American Woman Suffrage Association’s (NAWSA) 50^th convention in St. Louis in 1919, NAWSA 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.” Within NAWSA, the Women Voters was formed, composed of the organizations in the states where suffrage had already been achieved.

Historical Photo - 1920 Board of Directors

1920: The League is Formed

The League of Women Voters was established officially on Feb. 14, 1920, six months before the ratification of the 19^th Amendment to the Constitution. The Indianapolis Chapter of the League of Women Voters was formed that same day.

Education and Advocacy

Since its inception, the League has helped millions of women and men become informed participants in government. In fact, the first League convention voted 69 separate items as statements of principle and recommendations for legislation. Among them were protections for women and children, rights of working women, food supply and demand, social hygiene, the legal status of women, and American citizenship.

Historical Photo - Getting out the vote 1926

1921: Early Legislative Successes

In 1921, the League scored its first major national legislative success with the passage of the Sheppard-Towner Act, which provided federal aid for maternal and childcare programs. In the 1930s, League members worked successfully for enactment of the Social Security and Food and Drug Acts. Due in part to League efforts, legislation passed in 1938 and 1940 that removed hundreds of federal jobs from the spoils system and placed them under civil service.

League Expansion

Today, the League of Women Voters operates at the local, state and national level, with more than 750 local leagues in all 50 states, as well as D.C., the Virgin Islands and Hong Kong. For League milestones across the decades, check out the history section of the national League of Women Voters’ website.