The brainchild of Carrie Chapman Catt, the League of Women Voters (LWV) was conceived more than a year before ratification of the 19th Amendment in August, 1920. Cleveland’s league chapter was officially established on May 29th, 1920 out of the Cuyahoga County Suffrage Party. From its beginning, the LWV worked to educate all voters through nonpartisan voter guides and candidate debates.
But the suffragists who created the League had deep roots in reform movements, and the LWV has always worked on enacting “good government” legislation and social policy reforms through coordinated advocacy campaigns and lobbying. The LWV chooses its issues, such as public housing, welfare reform, child labor law, public transit, gun violence, and renewable energy, by member consensus after intensive study. The League's advocacy work has always stayed true to its grassroots heritage and Cleveland women keep fighting to ensure that "ALL votes are counted and ALL voices are heard."
Learn more about the LWV in Northeast Ohio below.
Recognizing the city's important contributions to the suffrage movement, the first National LWV Convention was held in Cleveland. At this convention, the national members elected Belle Sherwin as their Vice President, and supported the Sheppard-Townshend Act for maternal and child welfare and the Women's Council for the Prevention of War and the Promotion of Peace.
Since the 1920s, the Cleveland League of Women Voters pioneered the practice of candidate debates for local elections, setting an example for the League nationally. By the 1960s, the power of debates to influence voters became too great for some candidates, and they paused until the LWV's 1976 presidential debate. Cleveland's League hosted the 1980 debate between Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. These debates are now run by a presidential commission but the LWV is instrumental to candidate debates at all other levels.
Cathy Henry of Cleveland Heights knitted this "pussy hat" to wear in Cleveland's Women's March on January 21, 2017. About 15,000 people marched downtown, many of whom wore the pink hats as a symbol of woman's ownership of her body, as well as the right to vote for related legislation.