After 90 years of existence stemming from a 1920 start in Chicago, the League of Women Voters has changed a bit, but the drive remains the same.
Janet Craft, co-president of the St. Charles and Geneva league said the issues have changed and the group now includes men, but the aspect of informing people on important issues stands. Craft spoke with The Republican about the league’s 90th anniversary.
Q How much has the League changed over the years?
A It started really as an outgrowth of the women’s suffrage movement, really before the 19th Amendment was passed. They started thinking of what people needed to vote for the first time. In those years, we expanded it to really emphasizing getting everybody involved.
Q How does the league function these days?
A The league really has two sides; one is the voting and education and the other is ... the issues that we study and take positions on. We don’t take sides for elections. This is probably misunderstood. We’re nonpartisan, but we’re political. ... Now at our local league we have people who are a committee working on environmental issues, we’re very interested in affordable housing and issues that affect developmentally disabled and mentally ill people. ... I think right now at our state league, we’re very concerned about the fiscal responsibility of the state. The league has promoted really a fiscal reform and not just rearranging the deck chairs.
Q How have women’s rights evolved since the group started?
A I don’t know, I wasn’t around, but my mother was. ... I think the league certainly has evolved over the decades, but I think the emphasis on education and then as time went on really the studying of issues at the grassroots level — being involved and what policy is set — is a hallmark of the organization. It is grassroots. I think many organizations on a national level really (are) sort of top-down, the league has tried really hard to stay bottom-up.
Q People usually aren’t as interested in primary elections; what are your thoughts on that?
A I think people perhaps need more commitment ... but we don’t really give up. I think so far we’ve certainly seen interest in it, and something that we have hoped helps is we have tapes that are taken of candidate forums (and played on public access). But you’re right, there isn’t as much interest in the primaries. I think last time around there was considerable interest in the 14th District’s primary, but I really don’t know and can’t predict what the case is now.
