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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The influences that shaped the League of Women
3Voters began in the early 1880s as changes were slowly
4proceeding to transform the status and the role of women in
5society; women were working individually and together to
6contribute their positions on the political issues of the time
7as they sought ways to influence public policy through
8questions and debate; and
 
9    WHEREAS, In the early 1800s, women supported the abolition
10of slavery, reforms in marriage and divorce laws, birth
11control, universal education, women's rights to separate
12personal property, the retention of earnings from their trade,
13and joint guardianship; however, the women's enfranchise
14movement did not become strong until after the Civil War; and
 
15    WHEREAS, In February of 1920 at the Congress Hotel in
16Chicago, the National American Woman Suffrage Association, led
17by Carrie Chapman Catt, and the National Council of Women
18Voters, led by Emma Smith Devoe, met to discuss how the women's
19movement should move forward as the 19th Amendment was slowly
20being ratified by the states after being passed by Congress;
21and
 
22    WHEREAS, Carrie Chapman Catt addressed the 500 delegates at

 

 

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1this opening session of the new League of Women Voters; she
2urged the members to adhere to a nonpartisan course, saying
3"You need to get into the party not as a 'women's auxiliary'
4but to fight for more than a 'me too' by convincing the men
5that you have the ability to open the tightly locked door that
6has shut you out and lead a successful drive for what you want,
7you have to convert them,"; and
 
8    WHEREAS, By the end of 1920 all but two states were part of
9the League; by 1924, the membership had swelled to 100,000; and
 
10    WHEREAS, The League's philosophy of nonpartianship,
11consensus on issues, study before action, and concerted
12advocacy were central to the League, as well as its work to
13educate members on reform issues and how to work within
14existing political organizations; and
 
15    WHEREAS, After the 1929 crash, membership fell, and, by
161935, only 41,000 members remained; the League remained a
17formidable force and became well known for through research and
18accurate information in the 1930s; and
 
19    WHEREAS, Led by prominent citizens including Jane Addams
20and Ida B. Wells-Barnett as well as women's suffrage
21organizations such as the Illinois Equal Suffrage Association,
22the Illinois Federation of Women's Clubs, and the Chicago

 

 

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1Political Equality League, women in Illinois secured the right
2to vote; therefore, be it
 
3    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
4HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
5we commemorate the hopes and dreams of the hundreds of
6thousands of Illinois women of all political parties who
7organized themselves, from the 1870s into the first half of the
820th century, to win the right to vote in America; and be it
9further
 
10    RESOLVED, That we honor the approaching 100th anniversary
11of the formation of the League of Women Voters in Illinois.