Lakewood Chapter Celebrates 100^th Anniversary of Woman’s Suffrage

Lakewood, Ohio…                                                                                                        October, 2017

The Lakewood Chapter of the League of Women Voters of Greater Cleveland will celebrate the 100^th anniversary of women’s suffrage in Lakewood on Wednesday, November 15 from 7:00PM to 9:00PM at the Woman’s Pavilion in Lakewood Park.

            The 19^th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which gave women the right to vote, was ratified in 1920.  However, progressive thinking in Lakewood allowed women the right to vote 3 years before the 19^th Amendment was ratified.  Activists in Lakewood, both male and female, knocked on doors and campaigned tirelessly for the right of women in Lakewood to vote in local elections.  The Charter Amendment giving women the right to vote in municipal elections was passed on November 6, 1917. 

            East Cleveland and Columbus had also voted for women’s suffrage, after enough registered voters signatures were obtained to put the issue on the ballot by petition. But, in Lakewood, it was the members of City Council, all men, who placed the issue on the ballot.  According to an article in the Lakewood Press, “Lakewood was the first city in Cuyahoga County to extend voluntarily the right of equal suffrage.”

            This past summer, members of the Lakewood Chapter of the League of Women Voters of Greater Cleveland carefully researched the history of this action.  They discovered a cast of fascinating characters whose commitment to woman’s right to vote in local elections was unbreakable.  This festive celebration will be a tribute to them, highlighting the woman’s suffrage history in Lakewood.

            For more information contact Mary Osburn at mary@glenmerehouse.com.