Where's the Key?

I didn't know anything about the LWV - I just assumed it was an organization of a bunch of women who got together every election to help out. And then I learned that it was founded in 1920 by Carrie Chapman Catt, a woman who always did more than simply "help out at the polls." My opinion of the LWV changed immediately.

Carrie Chapman Catt was one of the leaders of the suffrage movement. This was the movement that which campaigned for women's right to vote. Susan B. Anthony was President of the National American Woman Suffrage Association until 1900, when Catt took over. In 1920, her goals were reached when the 19th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified. This meant that the Amendment was now part of the US Constitution. And 27 million women now had the right to vote. The suffrage movement, which had begun almost 100 years before with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott and hundreds of others, had finally won! To read more about this, check out Daphne's article on Seneca Falls or Becky's article on Worcester Convention.

To achieve their goal, Catt and the women of NAWSA worked tirelessly, travelling up and down the country, contacting politicians, lobbying in state capitals. In April 1919, she wrote: "The politicians used to ask us why we wanted the vote. They seemed to think that we want to do something particular with it, something we were not telling about. They did not understand that women wanted to help make the general welfare."

Now that all women had the right to vote, Catt knew that her job was to teach women how to use their power! Most women didn't know anything yet about politics, or how a bill becomes a law, or even the basic rules of election procedure.

So she founded the League of Women Voters to educate women on how to use their vote and participate effectively in the political process. But the goals of the LWV went beyond education. During its early years, the League campaigned for issues that effect women and children.

Catt's life was truly remarkable. Most people would probably have taken a vacation after doing all the things she did! She got the vote for women and she started the LWV - what else could she possibly take on next? Well, she took on the cause of world peace. She founded the National Committee on the Cause and Cure of War in 1925 and spent the rest of her life working towards this goal.

Catt's life has been written about and debated. Many people consider her one of America's greatest women. Her name is synonymous with the suffrage movement. But, as Becky and I found out, her legacy took a little bit longer to hit home. She grew up in Charles City, Iowa in the late 1800s, but until 1990, her childhood home was in ruins, her achievements mainly ignored by the city's residents.

All that is changing, however, thanks to Rhoda McCartney, founder of the National 19th Amendment Society. In 1990, after learning about Catt, she started the Society in order to buy and restore Catt's home. "My dream is to show what Catt has done in her life," Rhoda told us. She spends at least three hours a day working for the Society (as a volunteer, like the Trekkers) because, as she explained, "I think Catt was such a dynamic woman, so forward-looking as far as women's place in the world. She stood not only for the suffrage movement, but also for world peace. Her efforts and her work need to be recognized."

There is a lot of history in this house, and Rhoda is determined to make it come alive. Becky and I vowed to come back in a few years to see the results.

Catt's life deserves to be remembered, and it was very inspiring to meet someone as committed to this endeavor as Rhoda. But, more than that, Catt's life deserves to be respected. She dedicated herself to getting women the vote…and yet nowadays, less than half vote in all elections. Anyone who can vote should do so with pride!

Daphne

Please email me at: daphne@ustrek.org