History of the Evanston League

League of Women Voters^®
of Evanston

History of the Evanston League

The League of Women Voters of the United States was formed in 1920 following the passage of the constitutional amendment giving women the right to vote. Soon after, local Leagues began to form across the county, and the Evanston League was formed in 1922. Early emphasis was placed on women's participation in government, including get-out-the-vote campaigns and support for state legislation allowing women to serve on juries.

Improvement of existing institutions resulted in an interest in the city manager plan for local government as early as 1935. During and following World War II, the League worked for passage of Aid to Dependent Children legislation, sponsored meetings on post-war planning and held programs on day nurseries. Local housing became part of the Evanston League's work in 1941. Over the years the League lobbied for public housing, housing for the elderly, and ordinances for rehabilitation, landlord-tenant relations and condominium regulation.

In 1959, a League committee studied whether Evanston should establish a human relations commission. The creation of the Human Relations Commission by the city council in 1969 and passage of the Fair Housing Ordinance are attributed to this committee's work.

In the 1960s and 1970s, the Evanston League actively denounced school segregation and worked for an integrated school system. In the 1980s, it supported an expanded, publicly funded main library, located in or adjacent to downtown Evanston. The beautiful new four-story Evanston Public Library opened in November 1994 in downtown Evanston.

Later, the League studied voting rights for the homeless and cable casting of school board meetings by both districts. The League has piloted a voter education and outreach program for people with physical disabilities and accessed the information superhighway with the Voter OnLine Information and Communication Exchange, which put voter guides on the internet in conjunction with the Evanston Public Library.

Comments, suggestions, questions? Contact our webmaster. Last revised: January 15, 2012 21:01 PST.