Date: Fri 23-Apr-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: KAAREN

Quick Words:

League-of-Women-Voters-disband

Full Text:

Newtown League Of Women Voters Disbands After 50 Years

BY STEVE BIGHAM

The League of Women Voters is officially out of business in Newtown after more

than 50 years of providing civic leadership to the town.

President Judy Holmes made the announcement this week, saying the list of

active membership had dropped to "zero," except for herself and treasurer Dee

Dee Russell.

"There's just nobody involved that wants to do anything. It's a lack of

manpower, really," Mrs Holmes said. "So many women are working these days and

it's hard to get volunteers. It was getting hard to recruit people."

Newtown's League, which still had to take an official vote on disbanding at

press time, joins the Southbury League of Women Voters which also folded this

year.

50 Years of Local Influence

Over the years, the League of Women Voters provided many great memories for

Newtown women, especially for Caroline Stokes, who is the only surviving

member from the group of five women who were instrumental in establishing the

local league back in March of 1948.

"It's a very sad thing that it finally disbanded. It just wasn't being

effective. We didn't have enough membership," said Mrs Stokes, who received

the news second-hand. "I guess it's a reflection on the times."

In its heyday, the non-partisan League of Women Voters was one of the most

influential clubs in town, leading the appeal for zoning, tax restructuring

and property reassessments, and other changes that come with a town's

development. The league worked to encourage both men and women to be involved

and to vote.

"This was a very important organization in Newtown. Through the years, many

things were initiated by the effectiveness of the League of Women Voters," Mrs

Stokes said.

Today, however, most women can be found in the work force where they are more

informed and free to understand the issues of their time. The need is not

there anymore, Mrs Stokes said.

It was quite different back in the early 1920s, when the League of Women

Voters was first formed in the United States. At that time, women had just

been given the right to vote and the league gave them the opportunity to learn

the kinds of things they missed at home raising a family.

"The league had a wonderful approach to training women to be effective," Mrs

Stokes said. "The whole idea was to be informed. An educated woman wanted

stimulation. She wanted to get involved in thinking and discussing things."

Mrs Stokes was much younger than the other four Newtown residents -- Connie

Harrison, Carol Wilde, Julie Howson and Mary Jackson -- who had all been

traveling to Danbury for league meetings. In time, they decided to form an

organization of their own -- a League of their own.

Betty Lou Osborne was an original member who recalls the league being an

effective forum for erudite women to meet. In those sobering post-war times,

women were still trying to determine their place in the world.

"I just found it so stimulating. People were trying to examine where this

country could go and what women's roles would be," Mrs Osborne said. "We had

some very interesting women who had done quite a few things in Washington

during the war."

Upon its formation, the group set out to address two big issues in town at the

time -- the reassessment of town property and town zoning.

"We proved to the selectmen that there needed to be reassessment," Mrs Stokes

said. "We also did a study of zoning, which helped get zoning going. It was a

lot of work and the town responded. This is one of first towns in the area to

have zoning."

The league also did a study of town road names, state funding for education

and the effectiveness of mental health in the state of Connecticut. In 1952

the league published a map of Newtown, the first such map since 1905.

In 1948, the league's national president was Anna Lord Strauss who lived in

Newtown. However, she was a member of the Fairfield Club since Newtown had not

yet been formed. In July of 1948, she transferred to the Newtown club.

At its peak, the club had as many as 125 members, including an occasional man,

although most men stayed away because of the club's name.

"A lot of friendships were developed through league. It was a good way to meet

people," Mrs Stokes said.

But times have changed and as Mrs Osborne points out, there's not the need for

it as much anymore.

"It came out of a definite need for women to get into politics and to be

respected. Women can stand on their own now," she said.

Nevertheless, the former league members wonder who the town will turn to when

it comes time for a political debate. Who will organize the annual "Pizza &

Politics" events? Who will help get the word out?