The League of Women Voters of Cuyahoga County
On August 20,1920 Cleveland church bells rang out joyously; factory and steamship whistles blew, and Euclid Avenue was bright with flags to celebrate the announcement that Tennessee had ratified the 19th Amendment making the "Perfect 36" number of states needed to ratify women's suffrage. The Cuyahoga League of Women Voters had already been organized from the suffrage groups that had worked for the right to vote for women. Educating the woman voter was the first objective of the fledgling organization, while working for "needed legislation" and encouraging women to "get into politics" were second and third objectives.
The Cleveland Heights-University Heights League
In 1934, foreign affairs study groups were started in Lakewood, Shaker Heights, and Cleveland Heights. The Cleveland Heights group got into a little trouble. Locally, study groups were a new League technique and no hard and fast rules had been established for their procedure. This particular group wandered so far off the League's program of study, that in 1937 the Board took direct action to "pull in the reins." There was a reorganization of the foreign affairs study groups, and it was announced that in the future, LWV study groups would be "for members only" and would follow a program in conformity with work of the League.
In 1938, the Cleveland Heights branch of the LWV was revived. The branches in the County were revivals of the old suffrage district groups. After 1939 and through the war years the LWV enjoyed a tremendous increase in membership, which led to a reorganization of the County League into individual city Leagues. In 1943, the University Heights branch League was formed. The independent local Leagues formed in 1946 were Lakewood, Shaker Heights, Cleveland, Cleveland Heights-University Heights, East Cleveland, Westlake, and Bay Village.
Mrs. Andrew Meyer was the first president of the CH-UH League in 1947-48, followed by Dorothy Raymond in whose name the CH-UH Chapter presents an annual award to a senior high school student for noteworthy political activity and/or knowledge. In 1950, 37,500 County Voters Guides were printed. Postage for each Voter was one cent!
In 1973, dues were $8.00. At the 1973 annual meeting a sherry bar preceded the luncheon. In 1979, the annual meeting dinner at Tim Ryan's Pub cost $6.00. That year CH- UH conducted interviews of new homeowners in UH.
The first Beatrice Halle award for significant league involvement was presented in 1979 to Regina O'Leary. In 1982 the LWV participated in a National Study of Reproductive Choice. In 1987, during Donalene Poduska's presidency, the League proposed town meetings in CH-UH.
The CH-UH LWV participated in international initiatives in the late 1990's. In 1992, during Donalene Poduska's tenure as President of the Inter-League Organization and Lolly Jacobsen's term as CH-UH President, the Building Political Participation in Poland project involved two women who came from Poland.
In 1998-99, Lainah Magama and Sheba Dube, Zimbabwe Fellows, were a focus for CH-UH League activity. Resident Linda Tobin (1998) said, "We helped educate them about the democratic process." Claudette Woodard and Carol Gibson completed the exchange in 1999 by traveling to Zimbabwe to conduct workshops on building grassroots democracy, from which the Zimbabwe LWV chapter sprung.
Spearheaded by 1999-2002 CH-UH LWV President Wendy Deuring, the "Schools Awareness Project" provides painstakingly gathered and researched information about the complex issues facing the local school district (CH-UH).
The Cleveland Heights-University Heights Chapter of the Cuyahoga Regional Area (2003-04)
2003-04 was the first year for the CH-UH chapter as part of the newly formed Cuyahoga Regional Area. A Steering Committee managed the activities of the CH-UH chapter, which included the following accomplishments:
15,000 Voters Guides were distributed throughout the community during the November 2003 election season.
The annual Candidates' Night was attended by several hundred — initially standing room only.
The CH-UH Chapter donated $300 to the CRA's First Thursday Forums.
The CH-UH Chapter co-sponsored two events, including the "School Board Governance Forum" hosted by Reaching Heights and the "Living Online" e-governance forum hosted by CHUH.NET.
CH-UH hosted a "School Levy Endorsement Meeting" for members to hear from representatives of both sides of the issue on the November 2003 operating levy, followed by an endorsement vote.
Members of the CH-UH Chapter called for open school board activities, drafting a letter to the newspapers from Mary Lou Jones, LWV-CRA President, and meeting with school district staff to advocate for timely, open communication such as school board meetings shown on cable and school board minutes accessible on the internet.
$1,039 was raised to support the work of Sheba Dube Phiri of Zimbabwe, one of two League of Women Voters Fellows who visited the Heights five years ago. Sheba has since worked tirelessly in Zimbabwe to support children orphaned by AIDS, as well as for human and women's rights.
The "Schools Awareness Project" was unveiled online on our local Chapter website.
CH-UH continued the practice of honoring two remark- able individuals with the Beatrice Halle Award and the Dorothy Raymond Award.