History of the League

League of Women Voters^®
of Greater Lafayette

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

History of the League of Women Voters. The Greater Lafayette League.

History of the League of Women Voters

The League of Women Voters was founded by Carrie Chapman Catt in 1920 during the convention of the National American Woman Suffrage Association. The convention was held just six months before the 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, giving women the right to vote after a 72-year struggle.
The League began as a "mighty political experiment" designed to help 20 million women carry out their new responsibilities as voters. It encouraged them to use their new power to participate in shaping public policy. From the beginning, the League was an activist, grassroots organization whose leaders believed that citizens should play a critical role in advocacy. It was then, and is now, a nonpartisan organization. League founders believed that maintaining a nonpartisan stance would protect the fledgling organization from becoming mired in the party politics of the day. However, League members were encouraged to be political themselves, by educating citizens about, and lobbying for, government and social reform legislation.
This holds true today. The League is proud to be nonpartisan, neither supporting nor opposing candidates or political parties at any level of government, but always working on vital issues of concern to members and the public. The League has a long, rich history,that continues with each passing year.

The Greater Lafayette League

Our local League was formed the same year as the organization was founded nationally, 1920.
Archives: Archives of the League of Women Voters of Greater Lafayette are stored at the Tippecanoe County Historical Association. (Call 476-476-8411 ex. 205 to arrange to see the archives.) Archived material includes the following:

Material from the 1922 and 1945 state conventions held in Lafayette and 3 Histories of the League of Women Voters in Tippecanoe County.
Constitutions and by-laws from the 1940s to 1970s
Minutes from the Tippecanoe County League from 1930s to 1980s
Correspondence and Annual Reports from the 1940s to 1970s
Membership lists from the 1970s to 1970s
Newsletters from 1950s to 1980s
Various pamphlets about the League
Committee reports from the 1950s to 1970s
Records of meetings from the 1950s to 1970s
Voters Service Committee materials from the 1950s to 1970s
Studies conducted by the League (West Lafayette Public Library, 1957-8; Tippecanoe County area planning, 1950s to 1970s; Neighborhoods, 1960s to 1970s; Public Welfare, 1960s; Taxes; Foreign policy, 1950s to 1970s; Environmental quality including water resources and solid waste management, 1960s to 1970s)
Newsclippings and scrapbooks, 1950s to 1970s

Comments, suggestions, questions? Contact our webmaster. Last revised: June 14, 2010 12:47 PDT.