The League of Women Voters of the San Antonio Area
Founding members Myra Scott and Georgia H. Smith established the San Antonio chapter in 1940 with the encouragement and assistance of then Texas state chapter president, Mrs. Claude Hill. For the decades that followed, San Antonio women dedicated to ensuring a voice for all, especially at the ballot box, spent countless hours researching, writing, educating, and advocating in service of creating a more perfect democracy. Through the years, the League’s focus for advocacy and education in addition to voting has included natural resource management, women’s health, children’s issues, civil rights, ERA, campaign finance reform, the open meeting law, state budget and finances, public education, gender equity, administration of justice, public safety, community preservation, redistricting, and more.
Learn about the archive of the League of Women Voters of the San Antonio Area housed in the special collections of the University of Texas at San Antonio libraries.
The League of Women Voters of Texas
The League of Women Voters of Texas was founded in 1919, four months before the establishment of the national organization, at the St. Anthony Hotel in San Antonio. During the 1920’s the group conducted citizenship classes, held “Get Out the Vote” campaigns, and published their queries of political candidates. The Texas League also worked diligently to obtain the right for women to serve on juries, which finally occurred in 1954, and continues today working at the forefront of voting issues that concern all Texans.
Read more about the history of the League of Women Voters of Texas.
The League of Women Voters of the US
The League of Women Voters was founded by Carrie Chapman Catt in 1920 during the convention of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, just six months before the 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified after a 72-year struggle. The aim of this activist, grassroots "mighty political experiment" was to help 20 million women carry out their new responsibilities as voters, encouraging them to use their new power to participate in shaping public policy. The organization's founders believed that citizens should play a critical role in democracy and that remaining nonpartisan was essential to protecting the organization from becoming mired in party politics. Members were encouraged to be political themselves, educating citizens about, and lobbying for, government and social reform legislation.
Read more about the history of the League of Women Voters of the US spanning ten decades.