League of Women Voters of Clallam County LWVCLA

We are a peoples' organization that has fought since 1920 to improve our government and engage all Americans in the decisions that impact their lives. We operate at national, state and local levels through more than 800 state and local Leagues, in all 50 states as well in DC, the Virgin Islands and Hong Kong. We never endorse or oppose political parties or candidates, but we are political. Formed from the movement that secured the right to vote for women, the centerpiece of the League’s efforts continues to be the expansion of participation and giving a voice to all Americans. We do this at all three levels of government, engaging in both broad educational efforts as well as advocacy. Our issues are grounded in our respected history of making democracy work for all Americans.

• We are a nonpartisan political organization.
• We encourage informed and active participation in government.
• We work to increase understanding of major public policy issues.
• We influence public policy through education and advocacy.

To better understand who we are and our positions,
please view our Orientation.

To better understand what we do and how we do it,

please view our Flyer.

How the Clallam League Started 

In 1967, a group of Clallam women attended the first organizing  meeting at Peninsula College. Representatives from the Washington State League attended and provided guidance on how to launch a local branch. An executive board was established and minutes indicate that the new provisional league had 35 members. The national league program at that time was a study of China. Of interest to the league locally were the subjects of Hollywood Beach development and Dungeness Spit proposals. 

In 1968, our League was recognized as an official chapter of the League of Women Voters of the United States. During the ensuing years, the League has organized local studies and advocated on many issues of significance to the residents of Clallam County. Highlights have included opposition to Port Angeles Harbor becoming an oil port, and the development of positions on:

• Natural resources including forests and water;
• Growth management;
• Local agriculture and sustainability;
• County charter government;
• Health care for all;
• Local and state taxation; and 
• The Jamestown Healing Clinic.

Origins of the National League of Women Voters

In her address to the National American Woman Suffrage Association's (NAWSA) 50th convention in St. Louis, Missouri, President Carrie Chapman Catt proposed the creation of a "league of women voters to finish the fight and aid in the reconstruction of the nation." Women Voters was formed within the NAWSA, composed of the organizations in the states where suffrage had already been attained. The next year, on February 14, 1920 - six months before the 19th amendment to the Constitution was ratified - the League was formally organized in Chicago as the national League of Women Voters. Catt described the purpose of the new organization: "The League of Women Voters is not to dissolve any present organization but to unite all existing organizations of women who believe in its principles. It is not to lure women from partisanship but to combine them in an effort for legislation which will protect coming movements, which we cannot even foretell, from suffering the untoward conditions which have hindered for so long the coming of equal suffrage. Are the women of the United States big enough to see their opportunity?"

From the very beginning, it was apparent that the legislative goals of the League were not exclusively focused on women's issues and that citizen education aimed at all of the electorate was in order. Since its inception, the League has helped millions of women and men become informed participants in government. The League's first major national legislative success was the passage of the Sheppard-Towner Act providing federal aid for maternal and child care programs.

In the 1930's, League members worked successfully for enactment of the Social Security and Food and Drug Acts. During the postwar period, the League helped lead the effort to establish the United Nations and to ensure U.S. participation. The League was one of the first organizations in the country officially recognized by the United Nations as a non-governmental organization; it still maintains official observer status today.

See the History section of the League of Women Voters of the US website for more information.