Full Text of HR0757 101st General Assembly
HR0757 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
| | HR0757 | | LRB101 17443 ECR 66852 r |
|
| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The influences that shaped the League of Women | 3 | | Voters began in the early 1880s as changes were slowly | 4 | | proceeding to transform the status and the role of women in | 5 | | society; women were working individually and together to | 6 | | contribute their positions on the political issues of the time | 7 | | as they sought ways to influence public policy through | 8 | | questions and debate; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, In the early 1800s, women supported the abolition | 10 | | of slavery, reforms in marriage and divorce laws, birth | 11 | | control, universal education, women's rights to separate | 12 | | personal property, the retention of earnings from their trade, | 13 | | and joint guardianship; however, the women's enfranchise | 14 | | movement did not become strong until after the Civil War; and
| 15 | | WHEREAS, In February of 1920 at the Congress Hotel in | 16 | | Chicago, the National American Woman Suffrage Association, led | 17 | | by Carrie Chapman Catt, and the National Council of Women | 18 | | Voters, led by Emma Smith Devoe, met to discuss how the women's | 19 | | movement should move forward as the 19th Amendment was slowly | 20 | | being ratified by the states after being passed by Congress; | 21 | | and
| 22 | | WHEREAS, Carrie Chapman Catt addressed the 500 delegates at |
| | | HR0757 | - 2 - | LRB101 17443 ECR 66852 r |
|
| 1 | | this opening session of the new League of Women Voters; she | 2 | | urged the members to adhere to a nonpartisan course, saying | 3 | | "You need to get into the party not as a 'women's auxiliary' | 4 | | but to fight for more than a 'me too' by convincing the men | 5 | | that you have the ability to open the tightly locked door that | 6 | | has shut you out and lead a successful drive for what you want, | 7 | | you have to convert them,"; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, By the end of 1920 all but two states were part of | 9 | | the League; by 1924, the membership had swelled to 100,000; and
| 10 | | WHEREAS, The League's philosophy of nonpartianship, | 11 | | consensus on issues, study before action, and concerted | 12 | | advocacy were central to the League, as well as its work to | 13 | | educate members on reform issues and how to work within | 14 | | existing political organizations; and
| 15 | | WHEREAS, After the 1929 crash, membership fell, and, by | 16 | | 1935, only 41,000 members remained; the League remained a | 17 | | formidable force and became well known for through research and | 18 | | accurate information in the 1930s; and
| 19 | | WHEREAS, Led by prominent citizens including Jane Addams | 20 | | and Ida B. Wells-Barnett as well as women's suffrage | 21 | | organizations such as the Illinois Equal Suffrage Association, | 22 | | the Illinois Federation of Women's Clubs, and the Chicago |
| | | HR0757 | - 3 - | LRB101 17443 ECR 66852 r |
|
| 1 | | Political Equality League, women in Illinois secured the right | 2 | | to vote; therefore, be it
| 3 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 4 | | HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 5 | | we commemorate the hopes and dreams of the hundreds of | 6 | | thousands of Illinois women of all political parties who | 7 | | organized themselves, from the 1870s into the first half of the | 8 | | 20th century, to win the right to vote in America; and be it | 9 | | further
| 10 | | RESOLVED, That we honor the approaching 100th anniversary | 11 | | of the formation of the League of Women Voters in Illinois.
|
|