FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  
January 15, 2021
Contact: Carol Reimers, President                                                  
League of Women Voters of Connecticut
203-288-7996     lwvct [at] lwvct.org     www.lwvct.org

[HAMDEN, CT – January 15, 2021]  On January 18, 2021, the League of Women Voters of Connecticut (LWVCT) will celebrate its 100th Anniversary.  From the founding in New Haven by a group of women activists who came out of the Connecticut Woman Suffrage Association, to today, the League has been active in promoting citizen rights and good government. In the first year local and county Leagues were formed, and the newly elected state league board began its work with plans for a Citizenship School at Yale University.

In 1921, the issues at the forefront for the LWVCT were American Citizenship; Legal Status of Women; Election Laws and Methods; Food Supply and Demand; Social Hygiene; Child Welfare; and Women in Industry.  On February 14, 1921 the first Legislative Bulletin was published to assist members in understanding the legislative issues being worked on by the League in the General Assembly.

“Many of the issues that faced the League leaders in 1921 are still relevant today. The League continues our efforts on citizen education, election laws, and issues affecting women. In the past 9 months, we strived to get Connecticut citizens the information they needed to participate in the voting process without risking their health during the pandemic. We continue to advocate for better access to voting during this legislative session,” observes Carol Reimers, LWVCT President.

The League plans a special recognition to mark its 100th anniversary with the placement of a plaque in the Capitol Building to honor the women of color who helped gain a woman’s right to vote in Connecticut. In addition to the plaque, a Connecticut Women’s Suffrage Research Project has been created to offer grant funding to further explore the history of all the women who fought for the right to vote. This grant project will continue the belief of the first League of Women Voters of Connecticut President: “Much of the potential power of the League depends on its representative character. To be what it may become it must include in its ranks women of all classes, creeds, races, and colors.  That accomplishment alone would be worth all the work that is being put into it. It is a League of Women Voters and every woman voter has her place in it.”

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If you would like more information on this topic, please contact Carol Reimers, President (president [at] lwvct.org).