League of Women Voters of Connecticut records

The National League of Women Voters is an outgrowth of the suffragist movement. Carrie Chapman Catt in 1919 recommended the National American Women Suffragist Association transform into the National League of Women Voters.¹ The organization was founded in 1920 only six months before the 19th amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, giving women the right to vote. The league began as a "mighty political experiment" designed to help 20 million women carry out their new responsibilities as voters. It encouraged them to use their new power to participate in shaping public policy. The national organization soon stimulated the formation of state leagues that in turn developed local ones.

Founding of the Connecticut League of Women Voters and First Year, 1921

The Connecticut League of Women Voters (CLWV) was founded at New Haven, Connecticut on January 18, 1921.² The league was formed as the initiative of the Connecticut Woman Suffrage Association (CWSA) came to an end with ratification of the 19th amendment. The reason for organizing the league was "to form a non-partisan organization which would 'develop a high quality of intelligence and self-directing activity in the woman voter and a program of legislation.' "³ At the founding meeting members adopted a constitution and by-laws; elected officers; and adopted a budget of $15,000 dollars.⁴ Ms. Mabel C. Washburn of Hartford was elected the first president of the CLWV.⁵ Chairman Maud Wood Park of the National League of Women Voters welcomed the new Connecticut members and urged them to pressure there congressmen for passage of the Shepard-Towner Bill to provide maternal and infant care education.⁶ In the first year local and county leagues were established; the newly elected state league board held meetings and determined that being independent from other organizations would benefit the league; and began plans for a Citizenship School at Yale University.

The league in its first year established a state program by forming seven standing committees. The following is a list of the first standing committees: Committee on American Citizenship; Committee on Legal Status of Women; Committee on Election Laws and Methods; Committee on Food Supply and Demand; Committee on Social Hygiene; Committee on Child Welfare; and the Committee on Women in Industry.⁷ Each state standing committee had a chairman which enlisted members to study issues related to the committee's subject area and prepare materials for publication and distribution. The committees also studied proposed legislation by the Connecticut General Assembly in there subject area and reported recommendations for action to the Executive Board of the CLWV. The board used the reports for action from committees to decide whether to support or oppose a particular piece of legislation.⁸ The positions of the league on potential or particular legislation before the General Assembly was provided to members through publications, local league meetings, annual conventions, and correspondence.

Legislative Bulletin and the National and State Programs of Work, 1921-1940

The Connecticut League of Women Voters (CLWV) on February 14, 1921 published its first Legislative Bulletin as a way to assist members in understanding the legislative issues being worked on by the CLWV in the General Assembly. The first Legislative Bulletin focused on bills in the General Assembly pertaining to civil service and social hygiene. The Legislative Bulletin, later renamed the Woman Voter's Bulletin and Connecticut Voter, provided information on legislative issues being worked on by the CLWV in the General Assembly; the state program presented by the standing committees at the annual conventions and voted on by delegates; announcements by the state, county and local leagues; fiscal reports; election education and information; candidate statements; political party platforms; occasional photographs; and relevant news items related to the program or objectives of the league. The proposed, passed, and revised national and state programs along with state convention highlights were consistently published in the leagues newsletters.

The Connecticut League of Women Voters state conventions determined what parts of the National League of Women Voters program of work would be included in the biennial state program of work. The topics studied and acted on by the CLWV throughout the 1920s and 1930s focused on the following: jury service for women, child welfare, social hygiene, widow aid, efficient government, reorganization of state government, civil service, education, labor, international affairs, international cooperation to prevent war, pollution, Native Americans, taxation, living costs, unemployment compensation, social security, food and drug safety, immigration, law enforcement, legal status of women, and women in industry. The study and action topics of jury service for women and a state constitutional convention would occupy a large part of the Connecticut League of Women Voters continuing responsibilities under state programs from 1921-1965.

Jury Service for Women, 1921-1937

The issue of jury service for women was advanced as a program in the third Legislative Bulletin on February 25, 1921. The Executive Board of the CLWV endorsed Senate Bill number 154 which advocated that, "All qualified women electors shall be eligible for and subject to jury duty, under the same conditions as male electors, and wherever the words "man" or "men," "male" or "males" shall be used in any public act or statute, with reference to jurors or jury duty, they shall be held to include women."⁹ The state program on jury service for women continued for the next sixteen years. From 1923 to 1937 the CLWV drafted its own jury service for women bill; studied the issue both inside and outside of Connecticut; and advocated for passage of the bill through writing, meeting, talking, and thanking state legislators. House Bill number 39 "An Act Concerning Jury Service for Women" was passed by the General Assembly on March 17, 1937 and the Senate on April 14, 1937. The language of House Bill number 39 was similar to Senate Bill number 154; however, the passed bill included a second section which provided additional exemptions for women called to serve on a jury. The additional exemptions prohibited the following women from being called for jury duty: active nurses, care of one or more children under the age of sixteen, and the nursing of sick members of a family.¹⁰ Governor Wilbur L. Cross signed the bill at a ceremony on April 28, 1937 giving women the right to serve on juries in Connecticut.¹¹

Push for a Connecticut Constitutional Convention, 1935-1965

In 1935 the Connecticut League of Women Voters began to study reorganization of state government. The CLWV following the report of the "Commission Concerning the Reorganization of the Executive Branch" supported and published articles on ways to implement reorganization of state government. One aspect of state government reorganization was to call a constitutional convention to reform and revise Connecticut's constitution.

The first mention of constitutional reform by the CLWV was in May 1946 when Wesleyan Professor E. E. Schattschneider spoke on the history of Connecticut's constitution at the league's annual convention.¹² Revision of the state constitution would appear on the league's program from 1950 to 1965. The CLWV introduced its own bills for a constitutional convention to the General Assembly in March 1951. The league advocated for a state constitutional convention "because its effort toward reform through statutory changes achieved only limited success."¹³ A new state constitution according to the League would provide, "a modern easily understood document in which people have direct voice in their government. To provide constitutional guarantees of home rule, direct primaries, a fair system of representation, and a better fiscal structure. To ban dual office holding. To eliminate county government. To revise the court system."¹⁴ The league considered revision of the state constitution as part of its continuing responsibilities to study and act on throughout the 1950s and early 1960s.

Governor John Dempsey on January 5, 1965 signed a bill authorizing a constitutional convention to reform the state constitution.¹⁵ The constitutional convention convened in July and finished its work by the deadline of November 1, 1965. The league spent all of November informing and urging voters to vote "yes" on the new revised constitution.¹⁶ On December 14, 1965 a referendum on the revised state constitution was passed by the voters of Connecticut.¹⁷