The League of Women Voters® of Toledo-Lucas County (LWV-TLC) has a long history of supporting the rights of all people to participate in the democratic process.
In 1869, a group of Toledo women gathered to form the Toledo Equal Suffrage Association. In attendance were Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, the leading advocates for female suffrage. These women and those that joined them afterward worked tirelessly for female suffrage. By 1915, those fighting believed that broadening their focus might bring others to their cause and help solve some of the problems that existed citywide, so they turned themselves into the Political Equity League (PEL). As the PEL, they also focused on educating themselves and others about citywide issues including a 2¢ increase in streetcar fares, the standardization of bread loaves, and the treatment of juvenile delinquents.
In 1919, while congress was deliberating the passage of the 19th amendment, Carrie Chapman Catt urged suffrage associations nationwide to rename themselves as Leagues of Women Voters as part of an effort to lobby for the amendment’s ratification. Once the amendment passed, the new organization would help newly-minted voters understand and use the franchise. That has been the League's mission since the beginning: originally focusing on women’s voting rights but quickly seeing that the need for non-partisan information was equally great.
In response, the PEL morphed into the Toledo League of Women Voters in 1921. With a 52-year history of education and advocacy, this gave the League a significant head start. The Toledo League started focusing on informing women on how to register, the mechanics of voting, and the intricacies of party politics. This was accomplished by holding a school of politics and legislative institutes, creating a list of questions and answers every voter should know, and explaining details about impending elections. There were also study groups and committees to examine issues from all sides and act on them as the members deemed appropriate with the goal of always enlightening and expanding the members' and the public's understanding.
In the 1920s and 1930s, the League was intimately involved in the birthing of the city manager movement to create a council-manager form of local government. This charter change, passed by the electorate in 1934 and effective in 1936, was an answer to blatant machine politics that took the form of political patronage, favoritism in the awarding of contracts, and lack of law enforcement.
Also, during this time, the League worked to establish a family court within the Court of Domestic Relations. One of its members, Eva Eppstein Shaw, drew up the bill that created this court. Before the Child Study Institute existed, there was a Detention Home where delinquent youth were jailed. The League held meetings, tours of the home, talked to other organizations, and produced literature to demonstrate the unsuitability of the Detention Home; not only in its physical structure and condition but also as an answer to juvenile delinquency.
In cooperation with the Toledo District Nurses Association and the Toledo Public Health Association, LWV-TLC waged a campaign for a full-time health officer. In 1932, the League lobbied for a board of health, which was eventually set up in 1940. The 1945 local study, "A Sound Municipal Tax System," led to League support of the 1percent payroll income tax proposal passed by council and confirmed by a referendum vote. In 1975, the League’s involvement in housing issues led to support for the establishment of the Fair Housing Center, which reemphasized the League’s position for equal opportunity in education, employment, and housing.