History of the League in Marquette, Michigan
The League of Women Voters (LWV) in Marquette County, Michigan, officially began with the first organizational meeting on September 19, 1968, on the campus of Northern Michigan University. The original (provisional) Marquette County LWV had 46 charter members. It was the 39th League in Michigan, and one of four units formed in the Upper Peninsula (other chapters were established in Escanaba, Sault Ste. Marie, and Houghton).
But one must go further back in time to fully appreciate the early roots of the League in the Upper Peninsula. The Mining Journal applauded local LWV efforts to inspire U.P. women who marched, lobbied, and organized in support of women’s suffrage in the early 1900’s. Led by Abby Roberts, the charismatic daughter of one of Marquette’s most famous “founding fathers,” John M. Longyear, the Woman’s Welfare Club, as the early local suffrage group was called, sent a delegation to the Michigan State Equal Suffrage Convention in Saginaw in 1915, and participated in speaking engagements, parades, and other activities that culminated in the ratification of the 19th Amendment. So, the LWV of Marquette County owes much of its contemporary success to the groundwork laid by the earlier generations.
The Marquette County League has undertaken a number of important activities since 1968. One of the first major projects was voter registration. Over the next 38 years, the Marquette County LWV held candidate forums, compiled voter guides in concert with The Mining Journal, and held a 1969 fund drive for the “Know Your County” booklet project, which outlined the functions and operation of governmental units throughout the county. That same Fall, the Marquette County LWV took up the question of “Taxation and the Financing of Public Education in Michigan,” an in-depth study of the options for paying for schools through income, property or other taxes and the appropriate allocation of that responsibility among federal, state and local units of government.
In 1994, the Marquette County LWV hosted an exhibit at the Historical Society Museum entitled, “Remember the Ladies,” celebrating the struggle for women’s rights, the founding of the League, and the passage of the 19th Amendment, as well as honoring some of the pioneers who had been instrumental in getting the League up and running in the U.P.
By its tenth anniversary, the unit had grown to over 100 members, peaking soon after with 120 members. Over time, the numbers dwindled as more and more women joined the work force, leaving less time for volunteering in the community. And with fewer and fewer young women participating in the League, it became more difficult to carry out the group’s mission and goals. The decision was made – reluctantly – to disband the Marquette County LWV in August, 2006. As one member of the earlier incarnation ruefully noted, “People are just not particularly concerned with this kind of stuff anymore,” then added wistfully: “Maybe it will arise that they’ll need us one more time, and hopefully someone else can jump in.”
And so the occasion did arise. In 2016-2017, the time was ripe for resurrecting the Marquette County League. There was a small but growing group of people, who were ready to be the “someone else” who jumped in and provided the spark that ignited the revival of a Marquette County LWV. And the legacy and mentorship of the original chapter has been crucial to the current unit’s quick acceptance. Thanks to the solid reputation and respect which the earlier League had earned through its diligence, non-partisanship, and community involvement over almost four decades, the new League has found a warm welcome throughout the community.
Launching the League
Reasons for Reestablishing LWV in Marquette County
On April 26, 2017 five women and one man met with representatives from LWV of Michigan and LWV of Delta County to begin a mentoring relationship and to officially begin the LWV of Delta County, Marquette County Unit. These six people were part of a larger group that gathered and organized following the November 2016 elections. That group, called Forward Action Michigan UP (FAMUP), formed in Marquette to provide a venue for sharing and supporting members, organizing opportunities for action, and providing service to the community. FAMUP was the forum where discussions began to reestablish a LWV in Marquette County. The desire for a League stemmed from a general sense that politics and community were feeling more and more divisive. People wanted to find a way to work together, and LWV provided a path. The group was seeking meaningful action that could create bridges, not barriers, and have a positive impact on democracy. FAMUP provided regular meetings and a growing social media base to share information with others about the growing interest and desire to reestablish a local League.
During the Spring of 2017, the emerging collective met in small groups in local restaurants and members’ homes. Three members from the previous LWV in Marquette joined the ranks and provided a valuable link to the past and to the League’s mission and principles. These women were an important source of support and encouragement for the newly developing group.
With help from Delta County mentors, the Marquette County geographical unit held its first public information meeting in July 2017 at the lPeter White Public Library, where 37 community members attended and learned more about the new League. Nine new members joined, bringing total membership to 22. The stellar reputation of the LWV, and ongoing organizing activities, added momentum to the Marquette County Unit. The local organization was well on its way and was appreciating and capitalizing on the guidance from original members, Delta County mentors and newly assigned mentors from LWV of Michigan.
The Marquette County Unit was ready to begin action and service in the community with well-established LWV voter service projects. Only four months after the geographic unit was created, it produced its first Vote411.org voter guide. That was quickly followed by organized voter registration and education activities and a candidate forum for the Marquette City Commission on October 18, 2017. The LWV was back in Marquette County!
History of the National League
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.