On Feb. 14, 1920, Carrie Chapman Catt, activist and suffragette, founded what was to become the League of Women Voters. To commemorate this event, the League of Women Voters of Lehigh County hosted a Hot Topics luncheon featuring an appearance by regional actress Pat Jordan in the role of Carrie Chapman Catt.

Prior to Jordan’s performance, Lehigh County Executive Phillips Armstrong and Ellen Millard-Kern, chief of staff for state Sen. Pat Browne, R-16th, on behalf of Browne and state Sen. Lisa Boscola, D-18th, presented proclamations honoring the work of the League of Women Voters of Lehigh County.

During his presentation, Armstrong recognized inequality between the sexes still exists. “[In the struggle for gender equality] we have come a long way, but we are not there yet,” Armstrong said.

State Rep. Jeanne McNeill, D-133rd, also attended the event.

Following the presentations, Jordan, as Catt, in full suffragette regalia, swept into the room and took the audience on a journey of discovery. She wove details of her personal life into the story of her development from farm girl to tireless suffragette to founder of the League of Women Voters.

Jordan began by engaging her audience in an energetic “Hip, Hip, Hooray!” The narrative that followed was instructive and entertaining. At age 13, Catt was stunned to learn that women could not vote and vowed to “… work toward some form of justice.” In the face of personal losses, societal disapproval and political setbacks, she never faltered.

In fact, Catt considered herself an extremely lucky person. Until his untimely death, Leo Chapman, her first husband, supported her activism. Left to fend for herself, Catt became the first female journalist in San Francisco. After repelling an inappropriate sexual advance by her boss, she decided to fight for the protection of women. Catt recognized the power of the vote and the need for women to empower themselves through political involvement.

Consequently, she joined the National American Women’s Suffrage Association and eventually became the protégé of acclaimed women’s rights activist Susan B. Anthony. To promote the cause, Catt campaigned, lectured and organized.

In the course of her work, Catt encountered an old college friend, George Catt. Their meeting resulted in her second marital partnership. George Catt told her, “I will work for two, if you will reform for two.” He also encouraged other men to support the suffragist movement.

As Anthony’s handpicked successor, Catt took over as president of NAWSA, a role she filled from 1900 to 1904. At the end of 1904 she retired from public life to care for her ailing husband. After the deaths of her husband, brother, mother and Susan B. Anthony in close succession, Catt traveled abroad to escape her grief. During this time, she served as president of the International Women’s Suffrage Alliance.

Upon her return to the United States, Catt discovered the members of NAWSA divided and the movement stalled. In 1915, she resumed leadership and developed an approach that she labeled her “Winning Plan.” The main focus of the plan was to obtain the women’s right to vote on both state and national levels. The entrance of the United States into World War I gave Catt and the suffragettes the opportunity they needed. Taking a controversial stance, NAWSA supported the war effort.

Now perceived as patriotic, the suffrage movement garnered public support and the endorsement of President Woodrow Wilson. Finally, on Aug. 26, 1920, the 19th Amendment to the Constitution was adopted; women could vote.

Even before the amendment was in place, Catt looked to the future. Gaining the right to vote was a big step, but much still needed to be done. Initially titled the League of Women Citizens because it was founded before the ratification of the 19th Amendment, the League of Women Voters remains true to Catt’s original vision.

As stated on the group’s homepage, the League of Women Voters is a non-partisan group that “… encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues and influences public policy through education and advocacy.”

Carrie Chapman Catt closed her presentation with another rousing cheer for hurdles conquered and the continuing work of the League of Women Voters. “Hip, Hip, Hooray!”