The League of Women Voters in Johnson County
The Suffrage Movement
In 1848, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott organized a meeting at the Wesleyan chapel in Seneca Falls, New York. Three hundred attendees met to discuss the social, civil, and religious rights of women. Among the concerns raised was the issue of women’s suffrage. Seeking equal rights with men, women’s organizations began to challenge the social and cultural mores of conservative politicians and anti-suffragists who believed that if women were allowed to vote they would destroy the American family. Furthermore, they believed that women who wanted to change the social order were a threat to society and to themselves. Despite their own internal problems, suffrage organizations made progress and combined efforts in 1890 to become the National American Woman Suffrage Association. President Susan B. Anthony chose Carrie Chapman Catt as her successor.
By 1896, four states gave women voting rights: Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, and Idaho. Suffragists cast their lot with Theodore Roosevelt in the 1912 presidential election, hoping to see an expansion of the political party system. Although disappointed that the election went to Woodrow Wilson, the movement did claim one victory that year when the state of Kansas approved the equal suffrage amendment, becoming the sixth state to adopt votes for women. To gain national suffrage, a constitutional amendment needed to be approved by legislators in three-fourths of the states. This was finally achieved on August 26, 1920—seventy-two years after the meeting in Seneca Falls, New York.
The League of Women Voters
With the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment, over half of the population in the United States gained the right to vote. This overwhelming victory radically changed the suffragists’ role. Thus, a league of women voters was proposed at the last convention of the National American Woman Suffrage Association in 1919 by president, Carrie Chapman Catt. Catt challenged the women to remain on the battlefield and “finish the fight” for the changes in “custom, laws and education” so imperatively needed. Although a descendent of the suffrage cause, the League was to be more issue oriented and led by newly elected leaders. Jane Brooks of Wichita was elected as Chairman of the newly formed national League of Women Voters. Prior to this Mrs. Brooks had served as the President of the Kansas Equal Suffrage Association.
Working at the local level, the purposes of the League were to establish positions on public policy through member participation, to take actions that secure public policies consistent with these positions, to encourage citizen involvement at all levels of government, and to increase citizen participation in the election process. Perhaps the most unique feature of the League was its strict adherence to non-partisanship. The League emphasized the fact that it did not support candidates or political parties, but rather issues. However, outside of the League, members were encouraged to work for the candidate or party of their choice and to run for office.
In Kansas, League activities were primarily limited to Wichita, Topeka, and Lawrence. It was not until 1947 that a League organized in Kansas City, Kansas. Mrs. Margaret Holditch, a resident of Mission, Kansas, had been attending League meetings in Kansas City, Kansas. Although she enjoyed being in the organization, she wanted to discuss issues more relevant to where she was living. In an effort to form a League in her own community, she placed an advertisement in the Johnson County Herald. In November of 1951, 25 women attended the first meeting, including a representative of the State League who outlined the steps necessary to form a provisional league. The Provisional League named themselves the League of Women Voters of Shawnee Mission since the Shawnee Mission High School was the only visible unifying organization in northeast Johnson County.
The Shawnee Mission League was unique in the fact that it represented thirteen second-and third-class cities and two townships. For this reason, the national office hesitated to charter the group. Permission was finally granted in February of 1952. At that time, there were 55 members in the Provisional League. The program for that year included a study of the thirteen first- and second-class cities and a study of the Shawnee Mission High School District.
When the League was granted local status in 1953, the following items were adopted for local study: a study of the school system, the urban township plan, publication of the survey, “Know Your Town Government,” and a study of assessment procedures on personal property taxes. In the end, the previous items were combined into a single topic: “A Study of Urban Township Government.” This resulted from the realization that the power to enact change lay in the county government and with the County Commissioners.
Libraries and Parks
During the early 1950s, the Provisional Shawnee Mission League collaborated with the Prairie School PTA to develop a Johnson County Library district. At the time, the only public library operating in the county was in Olathe. This meant that the growing population in the northeast section of the county was not being served. The PTA, which had an overlapping membership with the Provisional League, petitioned to have a proposal placed on the November 1952 ballot. League and PTA members, Kay Robeson, Dorothy Ballard and Barbara Bradley worked hard to gain support for a library system in northeast Johnson County. A Johnson County Library Volunteer Committee took up the challenge and collected books and magazines and opened eleven volunteer library sites. Finally in 1955, the first tax dollars were received for library services.
In 1956, the Shawnee Mission League published their first “Guide to Johnson County Government,” which was compiled as a public service to help citizens be better-informed and more responsible citizens. Copies were distributed to schools, libraries, public offices, and new and old residents. That same year, after study and consensus, they decided to support the $1.1 million bond proposal for a Shawnee Mission Park System. That proposal won by 100 votes, with credit given to the League and the PTA. In 1963, a citizen commenting on the apathy of Johnson County residents wrote in a local newspaper, “without the vision of a few men who conceived the park project, and the League of Women Voters, which pushed it, there probably would be no Johnson County parks today.”
Education
Credit must also be given to the Shawnee Mission League of Women Voters for a study they conducted in 1965 to determine the need for a community college in Johnson County. The League was responsible for putting together the Johnson County Action Committee consisting of business and civic leaders, who worked to build public support for the creation of a junior college district. Voters confirmed the need for a junior college in 1967 and in 1972; the Johnson County Community College opened its doors to the public. Fall enrollment for 1998 was 15, 598 and the college has been cited as one of the top institutions of its type in the country.
In 1963, the Kansas State Legislature passed the School Unification Act in an attempt to equalize educational opportunities for all children and ensure the most efficient use of public funds. A unified district was to provide an educational program for grades kindergarten through twelve and to be governed by a single board of education. By 1967, northeast Johnson County accounted for thirteen of the twenty non-unified districts in Kansas. During the end of the 1960s, the Shawnee Mission League studied and came to a consensus on the need for the unification of the Shawnee Mission School District. Although initially rejected by the voters, Unified School District 512 was finally realized through State Legislation in 1970.
More League Success and Change
Since 1961, Johnson County League members have served in the Observer Corps, attending meetings of various boards whose activities are of interest to the community. These boards include: High School, Water District, Library, and Park boards. At the height of Observer Corps activity, the LWVJC sent observers to 32 boards including 12 city councils, two urban renewal boards, and a planning commission. For over forty years, a member of the LWVJC has been present at the naturalization ceremony for new citizens in this area. The pamphlet “Welcome New Citizen,” published by the Johnson County League is given to each newly naturalized adult. The pamphlet includes information about the voting process in the United States as well as the names and addresses of national and state officials.
League of Women Voters of Shawnee Mission decided they should incorporate all of Johnson County and not just the northeast corner. Subsequently, in 1972 the name was changed to the League of Women Voters of Johnson County. More changes came two years later when the National League, in keeping with the Equal Rights Amendment, made a provision to allow men the opportunity to join the organization.
One of the many highlights for LWVJC members was the final Presidential debate between President Ronald Reagan and former Vice President Walter Mondale in 1984. The vent was held in Kansas City, Missouri, and hosted by several of the Kansas City metropolitan leagues, including the LWVJC. Johnson County League members, including then President, Carol Sader, served as chairpersons on committees which were responsible for all the arrangements and fundraising for this event.
Other studies the LWVJC has conducted include the use of voting machines in Johnson County (demonstrated by League members and used in the 1968 elections), approaches to metropolitan problems such as mass transit, water, and waste management services for delinquent children as well as the mentally challenged, and aged. Results from these studies include a county home for the aged, a mental health facility, and public health services. The LWVJC continues to study issues related to mass transit, the environment, use of county property, and many others, which affect the daily lives of Johnson County residents.
Well-known LWVJC include: Jan Meyers, who was elected congresswoman from the third Congressional District; Audrey Langworthy, who was elected a state senator from the 7th Senate District; and Nancy Brown who was elected to the Kansas House of Representatives from the 27th District. Other members of the Johnson County League have been elected and served on school boards, water boards, College Board of Trustees, Board of County Commissioners, and appointed to numerous civic committees and commissions. The League of Women Voters of Johnson County has and continues to fight for the good life for all Johnson County residents and we are grateful to them for their work.
--ALBUM vol. 12, no. 2 (spring 1999)