History of the League

League of Women Voters^®
of Boulder County

The League of Women Voters started after women got the right to vote.

LWV of the United States. LWV of Boulder County.

History of League of Women Voters of the United States

In her address to the National American Woman Suffrage Association's (NAWSA) 50th convention in St. Louis, Missouri, 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." Women Voters was formed within the NAWSA, composed of the organizations in the states where suffrage had already been attained.
The next year, on February 14, 1920 - six months before the 19th amendment to the Constitution was ratified - the League was formally organized in Chicago as the national League of Women Voters. 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 which 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?"

Maud Wood Park became the first national president of the League and thus the first League leader to rise to the challenge. She had steered the women's suffrage amendment through Congress in the last two years before ratification and liked nothing better than legislative work. From the very beginning, however, it was apparent that the legislative goals of the League were not exclusively focused on women's issues and that citizen education aimed at all of the electorate was in order.
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 protection for women and children, right of working women, food supply and demand, social hygiene, the legal status of women, and American citizenship.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. In the 1930's, League members worked successfully for enactment of the Social Security and Food and Drug Acts. Due at least in part to League efforts, legislation passed in 1938 and 1940 removed hundreds of federal jobs from the spoils system and placed them under Civil Service.
During the postwar 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 organization; it still maintains official observer status today.
See also League History from the League of Women Voters of the US.

History of League of Women Voters of Boulder County

In May 2007 members of the LWV of Longmont voted to merge with the LWV of Boulder Valley. The members of LWV of Boulder Valley approved the merger and voted to change the name from LWV of Boulder Valley to LWV of Boulder County. The merger was approved by the national League in June 2007.
The LWV of Boulder Valley was founded in the city of Boulder on March 25, 1931, the first local League to organize in the State of Colorado . The newly formed local League was known as the Women Citizens League of Boulder. When the Colorado State League signed incorporation papers on May 4, 1929, it had to use the name of Women Citizens League of Colorado as another suffrage group in Colorado had the name, Colorado League of Women Voters. The group was not affiliated with the League of Women Voters of the United States (LWVUS) but was unwilling to give up its name. The group released the name in 1940. The Women Citizens League of Boulder then changed its name to the LWV of Boulder in 1940, the same time when the state League changed its name to LWV of Colorado.
In 1984 LWV of Boulder changed its name to LWV of Boulder Valley to cover the geographic area as the Boulder Valley School District . In May 2007, members approved the name change to LWV of Boulder County to include the geographic area of Boulder County .
The LWV of Longmont was founded in 1961. A city League, it focused on issues for the city of Longmont and the St. Vrain school district. With the merger of the Longmont and Boulder Valley Leagues into the LWV of Boulder County, members may study and take action on Boulder County issues as well as local cities within the county.

Comments, suggestions, questions? Contact our webmaster. Last revised: May 11, 2012 11:06 PDT.