Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, February 14, 1995                   TAG: 9502240003
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-8   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

A LOT ACCOMPLISHED IN 75 YEARS

The league evolved from the National Women's Suffrage Association, which led the battle for women's right to vote.

This visionary idea originated in 1848 with Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. It took 72 years and three generations of women to push Congress and the states to adopt the 19th Amendment.

"What an obvious idea," you say. Apparently it was not so obvious to Congress then, because it passed the Senate by only two votes.

In February 1920, six months before the ratification of the 19th Amendment, the Suffrage Association reorganized itself as the League of Women Voters. A year later, the league won its first legislative victory with a bill providing aid for maternal and child-care programs. Opponents called it a dangerous social experiment, and predicted dire consequences for society.

Society changes, but the league has kept pace because it is part of the community it serves. Over the years the league has worked for a minimum wage, compulsory education, equal opportunity for women in government and industry, and establishment of civil service standards instead of the "spoils system."

The league supported the United Nations, fair housing, racial justice, freedom of speech (threatened by McCarthyism), and assistance for migrant farm workers. Recently it successfully campaigned for the National Voter Registration Act ("Motor Voter").

It has not yet succeeded in achieving campaign finance reform, nor universal health care reform, but neither has it given up. Anyone who has watched the league knows this nonpartisan organization takes the long view and never gives up.

To make the system work for all citizens, the league studies an issue thoroughly; then it takes a "consensus" of its members and finally a "position" on the issue. Its members then begin working at the grass roots to achieve its legislative goal.

It welcomes anyone 18 years or older, either sex, who wants to help make a better community. We also welcome citizens of other countries as associate members who discover how the democratic process works here. The League of Montgomery County, is one of 18 local leagues in Virginia.

Nadine J. Newcomb, Membership Chair

Blacksburg