The Mid Hudson League was invited to participate at two events at SUNY Ulster to help encourage students/faculty/staff to register to vote. The first event took place March 8. There was a showing of the film, Selma, and voter registration. The second event was Tuesday, March 15. The college hosted a Diversity Fair. The local League had a voter registration table at the fair.
On March 21st, The LWV of Rochester Metro Area along with The American Association of University Women (AAUW) presented The Pros and Cons of Paid Family Leave: How It Impacts New York’s Employer and Employees.Panelists included Blue Carreker – Organizer with Citizen Action of NY; Campaign Manager of Paid Family Leave Campaign, Greg Biryla – Executive Director of Unshackle Upstate, Larry Marx – Executive Director of The Children’s Agenda, and Yvette Pagano – CEO of CAR Engineering & Manufacturing. The discussion was moderated by Katherine Smith – LWV-RMA’s Advocacy Director and 1st Vice-President.
Citizen Lobbying Workshop was held by LWV of Buffalo/Niagara on Saturday, March 12, 2016 During the workshop attendees were provided with useful tools for effective lobbying. They received a packet of helpful materials, shared ideas, made suggestions and asked questions. They also participated in a short role-playing skit.
The Saratoga County League held their annual famous person fundraiser on March 19th. Guests enjoyed breakfast and a performance by Lezlie Dana as Helen “Nellie” Taft, First Lady and Trailblazer. This progressive First Lady was an advocate for higher education and suffrage for women.
The LWV of Albany County celebrated Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s birthday by co-sponsoring an exhibit, talk and special dinner featuring Musicians of Ma’alwyck and the Siena College choirs at Druthers Brewery in Albany, near the location of both suffrage and anti-suffrage movement meetings. The concert featured the world premiere of Kathleen Ballantyne’s “Are women people?” for chorus and string quartet, and a reading of the “Declaration of Sentiments” by Channel 13 newscaster Elaine Houston.
Vote Here! Vote Now! Dialog and Debate: Why Your Voice Counts! The Schenectady County Historical Society, in collaboration with the LWV of Schenectady County is opening an exciting exhibit designed to serve as a source for information about candidates and issues, explore our legacy of democracy and encourage the community to discuss issues and take action by voting. The exhibit will run March 12-November 18, 2016.
The LWV of Westchester will present the film Fix It: Healthcare at the Tipping Point at the White Plains library Sunday, April 3 at 1:30pm. After the film there will be a discussion with NYS Assemblymember Amy Paulin and Nancy Rosenthal, M.D., Physicians for a National Health Program.
The LWV of Huntington in conjunction with Harborfields Public Library presented a very special program for Women’s History Month, Madam Justice: The Women of the Supreme Court. James Coll, a highly decorated NYC police detective, adjunct Associate Professor of American and Constitutional History at Nassau Community College and founder of the nonpartisan organization, Change NYS, which is dedicated to strengthening New York’s citizens’ knowledge of civics and political reform, presented a fascinating and informative program. He presented film clips where we heard the voices of Sandra Day O’Connor, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan as youngsters, young women and mature attorneys and judges as they traveled along the paths that led each of them to become Justices of our U.S. Supreme Court.
LWV of White Plains visited the German International School (GIS) in White Plains to kick off their Voter registration efforts. Their Vote 18 program was presented to a senior history class at GIS. A lively discussion was held around the question Should voting be mandatory in the United States? It was a great experience and some new voters were registered.
The Health Committee of the LWV of Schenectady continues its work with the Schenectady Coalition for a Healthy Community on a workgroup addressing falls among seniors. Their last meeting concentrated on how to reach providers and volunteers who could make falls prevention programs available in Schenectady and how to assemble and share a resource list for programs and providers of home modifications.
LWV of Syracuse will hold their Annual NYS Legislative Breakfast on April 8th at the Craftsman Inn, Fayetteville, NY. They will hear from NYS Legislators and where they stand on important issues.
The LWV of Utica Rome held voter registration drives at Mohawk Valley Community College (photo on left).
Rivertowns League teams up with recording artist Patty Griffen “Get out and vote” was the message at the Use Your Voice campaign at the Tarrytown Music Hall on Saturday, March 12. This was part of a 39-city concert tour by well-known performers Patty Griffen, Sarah Watkins and Anais Mitchell in collaboration with the League of Women Voters. Before the concert, Lisa Cohen of the Rivertowns League urged the packed audience to update their voter registration if needed and turn out to vote. After the concert, Patty gave an impassioned please to voters to participate in this year’s elections. Other League members distributed voter registration forms and other literature to inform voters about issues in New York State.
LWV of the City of New York will present SUPPRESSING THE VOTE with guest speaker Myrna Perez Thursday, April 14th. Behind the headlines on voter suppression are the stories of human rights and legal battles. Myrna Pérez, has been a fighter on the battleground to halt the fast growing movement of suppression. She is Deputy Director of the Brennan Center’s Democracy Program and leads the Center’s work on voting rights and elections.
In March, LWV of the North Country’s monthly speaker series, Friday Forum, featured Kathy Derrick. Ms. Derrick spoke about women in the military.
March Highlights in US Women’s History
- March 1, 1978 – Women’s History Week is first observed in Sonoma County, California
- March 1, 1987 – Congress passes a resolution designating March as Women’s History Month
- March 4, 1917 – Jeannette Rankin (R-MT) took her seat as the first female member of Congress
- March 8 – International Women’s Day, whose origins trace back to protests in the U.S. and Europe to honor and fight for the political rights for working women
International Women’s Day - March 8, 2014 – National Catholic Sisters Week www.nationalcatholicsistersweek.org established to raise awareness of the contributions of Catholic sisters
- March 11, 1993 – Janet Reno is confirmed as the first woman U.S. Attorney General
- March 12, 1912 – Juliette Gordon Low assembled 18 girls together in Savannah, Georgia, for the first-ever Girl Scout meeting
- March 13, 1986 – Susan Butcher won the first of 3 straight and 4 total Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Races in Alaska
- March 17, 1910 – Camp Fire Girls is established as the first interracial, non-sectarian American organization for girls
- March 20, 1852 – Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel, “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” is published and becomes the best-selling book of the 19th century
- March 21, 1986 – Debi Thomas becomes first African American woman to win the World Figure Skating Championship
- March 23, 1917 – Virginia Woolf establishes the Hogarth Press with her husband, Leonard Woolf
- March 31, 1888 – The National Council of Women of the U.S. is organized by Susan B. Anthony, Clara Barton, Julia Ward Howe, and Sojourner Truth, among others, the oldest non-sectarian women’s organization in the U.S.
March 31, 1776 – Abigail Adams writes to her husband John who is helping to frame the Declaration of Independence and cautions, “Remember the ladies…”
