Renee Chanon as Susan B. Anthony and Pasadena City Hall Rally

Our February League Day was a special day on which we celebrated the hundredth anniversary of the League of Women Voters. We heard the words of Susan B. Anthony, as portrayed by Renee Chanon, a member of the Los Angeles League. Her presentation, “From Corsets and Bloomers to Body Piercing and Tattoos,” described seventy-five years of challenges met and overcome by suffragists in securing women the right to vote and the beginnings of the League of Women Voters, founded by suffragist Carrie Chapman Catt.

The presentation gave an enlightening history of Susan B. Anthony and her colleague and friend Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who worked tirelessly to get the right to vote. In 1878, they arranged for Congress to be presented with an amendment giving women the right to vote, introduced by Senator Aaron A. Sargent (R-CA). It was ratified as the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1920.

Chanon’s presentation was a history lesson filled with interesting tales and humorous insights. It ended with a heartwarming rendition of “I am Woman” sung by Chanon (as Susan B. Anthony) and those who attended this fun and interesting League Day.

In celebration of the League of Women Voters Centennial, cupcakes, arranged to spell out LWV and the hashtag #lwv100yearsstrong, were consumed as members shared their thoughts on how we move forward in the next one hundred years.

Putting action to work, all attendees were invited to select a sign, and they marched across the street to the Pasadena City Hall Rotunda chanting “Voting Is Power—Power. Women Are Power.” The rotunda was filled with information on registering to vote and how to vote using the new vote centers’ ballot marking devices. There was also information on the importance of and how to complete the 2020 Census. Food trucks and music were available to attract the community to join in the rally.

—Dorothy L. Keane