This year marks 100 years since the 19th Amendment was ratified giving women the right to vote, but an organization in Lima is also celebrating a century worth of hard work.
After women were given the right to vote in 1920, many of the women who fought for suffrage wanted to continue standing up for what they thought was right and making a difference in politics. That’s how the League of Women Voters in the Lima Area was formed.
On Saturday, the League of Women Voters also celebrates a 100 years with the same goal in mind as the day they started: educating and making a difference.
Millie Hughes, the Communications Chair of the LWV says, “When you look at the leagues history over the years, all of the policies that they came up with, they wanted to impact what was going on in the government. They wanted to impact programs and things and that’s why they needed that vote.”
The celebration at the Allen County Museum featured displays and memorabilia from local and national archives about the suffrage movement. Guest speakers and members of the League reflected on the past and present struggles and triumphs.
President of the organization, Garrietta Flanery says, "It gives me strength as a woman to know these women paved the way for me to be able to go and to vote and to exercise that right that most people, you know, some people don’t even have that chance."
The League of Women Voters will be marching in the Memorial Day parade in May to continue the celebration of 100 years of suffrage and 100 years as an organization. To learn more about the League of Women Voters in Lima, visit their website at lwvlima.org
