L e a g u e o f February/March 2020 Volume 68, Issue 4 Women Voters of L e h i g h Celebrating 100 years! County Voter Feb. 14, 2020 marked a milestone in the history of The League of Women Voters; it was the 100th anniversary of our founding. To cele- Inside this issue: brate the occasion, we had a visit from actress Pat Jordan who came to speak to us in the person of Carrie Chapman Catt at our February Government 3 Hot Topic Luncheon on Feb. 10. Directory The luncheon began with President Molly Faust, recog- Membership 3 nizing the past presidents of the League who were in attendance: Ann Bartholomew, Molly Faust, Gayle Getz, 2020/2021 LVWLC 3 Pat Hudson and Immediate Past President, Jan Little. Budget And we are very grateful that Molly Faust agreed to be president once more this year, as we celebrate the work 2020 Census 4 and dedication of those who came before us. Next, Lehigh County Executive Phillips Armstrong presented a Proclamation Tabling/Voter 5 of Recognition congratulating the League on the 100th anniversary. He read Registration from the proclamation about the exceptional, non-partisan deeds of the Sashes Available for 6 League over the years. Additionally, Ellen Millard-Kern, chief of staff for Sale state Sen. Pat Browne, R-16th, also awarded a Proclamation of Recognition on behalf of the senator. President Molly Faust accepted these on behalf April Hot Topics 6 our Lehigh County Chapter. We are grateful to Phil Armstrong and Ellen Luncheon Millard-Kern (on behalf of Sen. Browne) for their participation. Fair Districts Reform 7 The remainder of the program was the visit and performance of “Carrie Chapman Catt” as she gave us a bird’s eye view of her emergence as a driving force behind the Women’s Suffrage movement January Hot Topics 9 following in the footsteps of her mentor, Susan B. Anthony. We heard how Mrs. Catt, from a very Luncheon early age, could never understand why a women could not vote or even participate in activities that were generally a men-only activity. March Hot Topics 11 Continued on Page 2 Luncheon President’s message What to Expect for 11 the 2020 Election Dear League Members, By the time you read this issue of the Voter, our League will have celebrated its 100th birthday. We enjoyed a presentation at our February Hot Topics lunch- eon given by a special “guest” - Carrie Chapman Catt - the founder of the Mark your calendar: League of Women Voters. The presenter gave a dramatic rendering of the his- tory of the fight to obtain voting rights for women in the United States. Mary March 9 Hot Topics Erdman made the arrangements for this unique presentation. Luncheon This is probably an appropriate time to review some of our local League history. April 13 Hot Topics Our League has been in existence for 65 years having its start in 1955 as a provisional League. I’m Luncheon quoting from an article prepared for the 50th anniversary celebration of our local League: “The provi- sional League immediately started several projects: a “Know Your Town” study (required in order to April 13 Last Day to Continued on Page 2 register to vote for Primary Election Page 2 LWV LEHIGH COUNTY VOTER Celebrating 100 years! (continued from Page 1) It was amazing to hear how far and wide Mrs. Catt traveled to promote the right for women to vote; from west coast to east coast and many states in-between. What also seems particularly amazing was that the group which preceded the League of Women Voters, the National American Woman Suffrage Association (N.A.W.S.A.), was able to collect over 600,000 signatures on petitions in New York state alone, in support of the 19th Amendment at a time when there was no Internet or social media! Finally, Mrs. Catt described in detail, the excitement and some dangers of being in Nashville, Tennessee when the 19th Amendment was ratified by the necessary 36th state. There was the time spent lobbying for the ratification, praying for the vote and watching in anticipation as the final vote was taken. Mrs. Catt told the story leading up to the final vote. State legislators showed their support in the Capitol building in Nashville, by either wearing a red rose boutonnière if you were against suffrage for women, and a yellow rose boutonnière if you were for women’s suffrage. Well, young Harry Burn, a first-term legislator was wearing the red rose to show where he stood right up until the day of the vote. But that morning, he received a note from his mother asking him to consider the hard work of Mrs. Catt and vote for woman suffrage. Harry’s vote, inspired by his mother, enabled the 19th Amendment to become the law of the land and again we saw the influence of Carrie Chapman Catt right up to the tie-breaking vote. This story, along with others, is part of our exhibit at The Liberty Bell Museum. The exhibit runs through April 30. We hope you all get to visit. We want to thank Pat Jordan for an enjoyable performance that helped us to appreciate some of the history of how and why The League of Women Voters developed into one of the most successful and long-standing non-partisan, grass roots organizations in American History. If you or an organization you belong to would be interested in hearing Carrie Chapman Catt or other women in history, please contact The Heritage Theater Guild at www.heritagetheaterguild.com. Thank you to all who helped make this day go so smoothly. And Happy 100th Birthday to The League of Women Voters! Mary Erdman Vice President, Action & Programs President’s Message (continued from Page 1) become a recognized League), a study of the financial aspects of the state constitution, and a study of a county health department. In February 1956, the League of Women Voters of the United States accepted the Allentown group as a full-fledged member. By then, we had 115 members. “The early League here brought a new perspective to local government and elections. It was the first time a non- partisan voters guide was published, which has ever since been eagerly anticipated before elections, and the first time that non-partisan candidates meetings were held. The League became a respected voice in the community. “Some of the local issues addressed by the League were the form of government in Allentown and later in Lehigh County; water supply and quality; redevelopment, with a strong emphasis on the ‘human element’ — where should displaced families go? Public housing, solid waste, reform of state government, welfare issues, and urban issues were very important items on the agenda. We held morning and evening ‘unit’ meetings that were well attended, at which members would present research into whatever issue was the topic of the month. While we were studying local, state and national issues far more than we do today, at the same time we maintained an ambitious citizen education/voters service agenda. Our membership has changed a lot over the years as women moved into the workplace. What has not changed during these past years is the fundamental concerns and interests of our founding members — good government, a safe environ- ment, children, society’s disadvantaged, and conservation of the Earth’s natural resources.” Yours in League, Molly Faust, President Volume 68, Issue 4 Page 3 2020 Government Directory This spring, we are once again distributing our annual Government Directory to members at Hot Topics Luncheons and at public places throughout the county, in addition to having the full guide available online at www.lwvlehighcounty.org. Jan Little and Cheryl Winters-Tetreau divided the contacts list and reached out to staffers in all municipalities, school districts, congression- al offices, etc. listed for updates. Trevor Little has been updating the online directory with those updates. Using the website as a guide, Kaitlyn Moyer is updating the template for the printed version. The staffers also sign off on the changes we made to both forms of the di- rectory. This year, we will have even more help in distributing the directories, which we hope will save us substantially in volunteer time and mailing costs. When the 2020 directory is printed, we will deliver 25 sets of bundles to Phillips Armstrong and 10 sets of bundles to Mark Sullivan at the Allentown Public Library. They will distribute them at the next monthly municipalities' meeting and via the daily courier service to public libraries in our county, respectively. On the back cover of the printed directory we will again list the names of the donors who gave at least $150 toward the cost of printing: ACLU-Lehigh Valley Chapter, Barry Isett & Associates, Inc., County of Lehigh, Keystone Consulting Engineers, Inc. and Lehigh County Medical Society along with the LWV Education Fund. We appreciate the financial support of these donors and the volunteer support of many members. Cheryl Winters-Tetreau, Chair, 2020 Government Directory Membership 2020-2021 LWVLC Budget Our membership drive is officially over. As of The budget committee met Feb. 21 to prepare the LWVLC Feb. 14 we have 75 members. I am pleased budget for 2020-2021. Committee members include Mary to announce we had new members join this Bongiorno, chair; Molly Faust, president; Barbara Williams, month, Dennis Geiger of Kutztown and Nancy treasurer; Doris Glaessman, Rochelle Kaplan and Mary Anne Dole Mellis of Allentown. Stinner. The budget will be presented to the board for its ap- If you did not rejoin, there is still time.