Volume 25, Issue 3 The Leaguer April, 2021
THE NEWSLETTER OF THE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY [email protected], 679-1774
Carolyn Jefferson-Jenkins, PhD
April 7th at 1 p.m.
Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89715181804?pwd=VkhFTTZ wVEt3SDNzRFNic01PWWtjdz09
Meeting ID: 897 1518
Carolyn Jefferson-Jenkins, PhD, is an educator, author, national and international speaker, advocate and activist. She served two terms as the fifteenth president of the League of Women Voters of the United States and chair of the League of Women Voters Education Fund (1998–2002). She is the only woman of color to have served as national president in the organization’s first one hundred years. Her career in public school and higher education spanned more than forty years. Post retirement, Dr. Jefferson-Jenkins continues to be an advocate and activist for civil rights, social justice, educational excellence, and stronger citizen participation in the electoral process for underrepresented populations. She actively serves on numerous boards and advises community-based organizations. She has received numerous awards for her contributions. In March, 2020, she received the Freedom Summer ’64 award from Miami University, Ohio for her lifetime of civil rights activism. Dr. Jefferson-Jenkins is currently an adjunct assistant professor in the School of Education at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her most recent book is The Untold Story of Women of Color in the League of Women Voters (Praeger, 2020).
VOTER SERVICES 2020 Volume 25, Issue 3 Page 2
From the President
In April we are going to acknowledge Black and Women’s history. We are excited about having Carolyn Jefferson-Jenkins for a zoom “Hot Topic” event. I encourage everyone to join us. See details in this Leaguer about Dr. Jefferson-Jenkins and her presentation. I encourage you to forward the zoom link to people who may be interested in joining us for this event.
I would like to recognize Anna Talbot. She is a League member and an intern from Fredonia in the Business Department that is working with us. She is doing a great job keeping up the WEB page. Anna is writing a paper for the next Leaguer about Mary Church Terrell who is an activist that Dr. Jefferson-Jenkins will be sure to mention. Anna is also helping with communication about our work with the students of FSU.
I am glad to say we have a student, Gabriel Reed, a junior from Fredonia Central School attending the LWVNY “Students in Albany” conference. There is more about her in this edition of the Leaguer.
I have mentioned before that we have been partnering with the Census Bureau. I recently got this information; which is somewhat encouraging. The gender pay gap is narrowing. In 2019, women earned 82 cents to every dollar earned by men. In 1996 the Equal Pay Day was established to represent how far into the year women must work to equal what men earned the previous year. This date this year was March 24th. Last year, it occurred on March 31.
Keep up with the Legislative events that the LWVNY and LWVUS send us. Write your representatives. Think about what you would like to contribute to our local LWV.
Warmly, Mary Croxton
I was at the Erie Art Museum and found this amongst their permanent collection!
Marcia Merrins Volume 25, Issue 3 Page 3
Students Inside Albany Conference The 2021 Students Inside Albany (SIA) Conference will happen – just not in the format as it has in the past. The Conference will be a virtual event this year held on Friday, May 21st from 4:00-6:00 pm, and on Saturday, May 22nd from 10:00 - 4 :30 pm.
The State League mindful that the pandemic has changed the way they organize this program, but the benefit will be that issues of importance to our young people will still be recognized. During this program, as with the usual in-person conference, we plan to have a packed agenda filled with tools to instruct our students on how to influence public policy decision-making at the state level. Similarly, the highlight of the in-person program of meeting with legislators will remain as we arrange virtual meetings in small groups with state legislators to discuss issues and advocacy. Our local League has selected Gillian Reed to attend this virtual conference.
“I am in the Fredonia chapter of the National Honor Society. Before the pandemic, I volunteered with the Humane Society and occasionally at Fredonia Place (during the holidays). I have been on the varsity bowling team for five years and have the highest average on the team. I have won multiple bowling awards: the coaches award, MVP, and first team all- star. I am interested in this program because it is my dream to become a District Attorney. I think the conference will be an opportunity to help achieve my goals because it focuses on understanding legislation and legal policies. I look forward to learning from people in our government who have knowledge and experience. “
-Gillian Reed
2021 LWVNYS Convention “Striving for a Stronger, More Inclusive Democracy”
June 7-12, 2021 Virtual
Open to all members with only delegates assigned by local Leagues permitted to vote during plenary sessions. Volume 25, Issue 3 Page 4 Volume 25, Issue 3 Page 5 Volume 25, Issue 3 Page 6
1913 Woman Suffrage Procession
The philosophy to “finish the fight” did not make a distinction between the 19th amendment-white women’s right to vote- and the fact that black women faced an additional challenge, that of racial segregation.
Who could forget Inez Milholland riding a white horse astride the horse rather than sidesaddle? She wore a white dress, a cape, and a golden tiara with the star of hope on top. This aspect of the 1913 Woman Suffrage Procession stands out but there were additional acts that were not as well known.
On March 3, 1913, the day before Woodrow Wilson’s presidential inauguration, thousands of women marched along Pennsylvania Avenue. This was the same route that the inaugural parade would take the next day. The procession was organized by the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). The intent was to illustrate women’s exclusion from the democratic process. Alice Paul and Lucy Burns, chairs of the NAWSA Congressional Committee were tasked with winning the passage of the Susan B. Anthony amendment to the U.S. Constitution which was first proposed in 1878. The amendment reads:
“The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.”
There were floats behind Inez. The first displayed a banner with the slogan that would become known as “The Great Demand.” “We demand an amendment to the Constitution of the United States enfranchising the women of this country.” The procession was designed to present an argument, section by section, about the accomplishments of women in the nation and around the world. Women marched in delegations from their states, with others from their professions, or in their academic regalia from the universities they attended. There were attempts to exclude certain groups of women from this effort.
The crowd watching the procession of at least 250,000 people did not stay on the sidewalk and began to stream into the street blocking the marchers. Progress of the march slowed then stopped. The marchers found themselves trapped in a sea of hostile, jeering men who yelled vile insults and propositions at them. They were manhandled and spat upon. The women held their ground until the U.S Army troops arrived about an hour later and the procession continued.
There was a concerted attempted to exclude women of color from this march. Mary Church Terrell wanted to bring a group from the National Association of Colored Women. A compromise was made by the organizers that the white women would march first and women of color would come last. Ida B. Wells-Barnett traveled to Washington with her Illinois delegation. As the group lined up, she was asked to assume a place in the back of the procession. She left but waited for the Illinois delegation to pass and she joined the group in the front of the delegation. She was not the only person to defy the edict. Twenty-five black students from Howard University marched with the university section. Mary Church Terrell joined this group. Fortunately, we are now hearing more of another side of history. We are learning not only about Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Carrie Chapman Catt, Alice Paul and others, but about the women of color that fought on two fronts: The right to vote and racial segregation.
Volume 25, Issue 3 Page 7
April 7th at 1:00 p.m. “The Untold Story of Women of Color in the League of Women Voters”
April 28 at 1:00 p.m. “We The People” high school course Greg Birner, Westfield Academy via Zoom link
May 4th – “The Census and Redistricting — Fair Maps”
THANK YOU TO OUR ADVERTISERS
DARWIN’S Health Club, Inc. 43-57 Water Street, Fredonia 679-1591 Volume 25, Issue 3 Page 8
THE NEWSLETTER OF THE LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY [email protected], 679-1774
The League of Women Voters of League of Women Voters of Chautauqua County Chautauqua County is where hands-on work to safeguard Mary Croxton, President Nancy Boynton democracy leads to civic Susan Evans Pat Kirell . improvement Marcia Merrins Lisa Mertz
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