Skip navigation

• lwvui: HOME
  • lwvui: FOR MEMBERS
  • lwvui: STUDIES

  League of Women Voters^® of Upper Iowa

“This year's 90th anniversary of the founding of the League of Women Voters has special meaning for our local chapter, and for me. My mother, Cicely Joslyn, was an active member of LWV for most of her adult life and she often said that League participation helped increase her understanding of complex issues and her confidence in voting,”
- said Current Local President,
Pat Johnson.

Joslyn, who resided at Vennehjem in Decorah, passed away on Dec. 31, 2009 at age 96. She was a League member for over 70 years and was born, in 1913, at a time when women did not yet have the right to vote.

“The women who started the movement to give women the right to vote really didn’t know if, how or when they would succeed,” says Pat Johnson, President of our Upper Iowa League. “They persevered, however – changing our democracy and society. Today we are equally committed to improving our democracy, and keeping our community healthy, vibrant and strong for all.”

Local League members currently serve on 3 different city commissions (historic preservation, planning and zoning, board of adjustment) and League members have served on city council, school board and the human rights commission in past years. Currently the city of Decorah is actively seeking to achieve gender balance on all local boards and commissions and the League supports and encourages this effort.

Last fall, the Upper Iowa League chapter sponsored a city candidates forum prior to the Nov. election. There was also a members' picnic featuring locally grown/produced food and a speaker from the Pepperfield Project. The League held two "hot topics" lunch meetings on health care reform and climate change, and in December met with state legislators to discuss issues of priority for the 2010 session.

In past years, local Leaguers lobbied for an increase in the state cigarette tax. This tax was finally increased by the Iowa legislature in 2007 and in 2008, the Smoke Free Air Act was passed. These actions have, according to a recent report by the University of Iowa and the Iowa Department of Public Health, resulted in significant decreases in the number of hospitalizations for cardiovascular disease, in particular, coronary heart disease. This is just one example of the League's successful lobbying efforts that have a direct impact on the community.

In 1920, after a 72-year struggle, and when passage of the 19th amendment appeared to be imminent, members of the National American Woman Suffrage Association met to form the League of Women Voters. Carrie Chapman Catt first proposed the creation of a League to “finish the fight” and to work to end all discrimination against women. While initially concerned with the status and rights of women, the League of Women Voters gradually expanded its interests to include issues affecting the whole community. Today, the League works to effect change on a wide variety of issues including health care, education, climate change, land use, and election and campaign finance reform.

House Resolution 108 - Introduced

PAG LIN

  1  1 A Resolution to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the
  1  2    League of Women Voters and to recognize February 14,
  1  3    2010, as League of Women Voters Making Democracy
  1  4    Work Day.
  1  5    WHEREAS, the League of Women Voters is the
  1  6 organization where hands=on work to safeguard democracy
  1  7 leads to civic improvement; and
  1  8    WHEREAS, the League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan
  1  9 political organization that has fought since 1920 to
  1 10 improve our system of government and impact public
  1 11 policy through citizen education and advocacy; and
  1 12    WHEREAS, league members are constantly striving to
  1 13 serve their communities to make strong, safe, fair, and
  1 14 vibrant places to live; and
  1 15    WHEREAS, the League of Women Voters believes
  1 16 in representative government and in the individual
  1 17 liberties established in the Constitution of the United
  1 18 States; and
  1 19    WHEREAS, the League of Women Voters has always
  1 20 worked to promote the values and processes of
  1 21 representative government; and
  1 22    WHEREAS, the League of Women Voters collaborates
  1 23 with other organizations to achieve mutual goals,
  2  1 increase civic participation, create lasting change in
  2  2 the community, and make democracy work; and
  2  3    WHEREAS, the League of Women Voters for 90 years has
  2  4 held the public trust by respectfully bringing elected
  2  5 leaders and the public together through nonpartisan,
  2  6 civil means and through thoughtfully advancing
  2  7 solutions; and
  2  8    WHEREAS, the citizens of Iowa have benefited
  2  9 tremendously from the countless volunteer hours donated
  2 10 by league members over its 90=year history of enhancing
  2 11 our democracy; NOW THEREFORE,
  2 12    BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
  2 13 That the House of Representatives honors the League
  2 14 of Women Voters on its 90th anniversary, recognizes
  2 15 February 14th, 2010, as "League of Women Voters Making
  2 16 Democracy Work Day", and urges all Iowans to pay great
  2 17 tribute and respect to the League of Women Voters for
  2 18 all it does to make our communities healthy, vibrant,
  2 19 and strong.