Women in California won the right to vote 100 years ago – before the rest of the nation got on board. Civic-minded women in Pasadena banded together 25 years later to form a League of Women Voters chapter – just 16 years after the 19th amendment passed.
The League of Women Voters Pasadena Area will mark its 75th anniversary March 6 with a celebration at the Caltech Athenaeum with other civic-minded leaders.
After these seven-and-a-half decades, the mission remains the same: To promote political responsibility through informed and active participation of citizens in government.
Only the faces have changed since 100 women gathered in the living room of a San Marino home in February 1936 to launch the Pasadena League.
Now there are men, such as Ray Bennett, who has been operations manager for the past 16 years; Sid Gally who writes a historical column for the Pasadena Star-News, and former state attorney general John Van DeKamp.
There are college students like Shannon Telles leading the charge on innovative formats making the pros and cons of ballot measures palatable if not exciting.
There are entrepreneurs and people of color like Michelle White, executive director of Affordable Housing Services in Pasadena who headed League satellite groups serving 10 communities and is president of ACLU Pasadena/Foothills.
There are professionals such as Irma Strantz, former USC faculty member and public health professional who currently is director of Health Care for All California, a volunteer organization dedicated to achieving a publicly funded, privately delivered health care system for all Californians.
There are young professionals with small children, such as Gina Long, a photographer and marketing specialist who is utilizing her skills for the League. “I joined the league because I am an ‘issues’ person and the League has an excellent reputation for being an organization that researches and provides non-partisan, unbiased information on political issues. It’s a place we can meet other concerned people, grow and make a difference.”
History bears that out. Many active Leaguers have gone on to serve on commissions, boards and in public office.
Take Congresswoman Judy Chu (D-CA), who will be the guest speaker at the League’s 75th celebration, as an example. She became a member of the League of Women Voters Pasadena Area in 1985 while she was an educator in psychology at Los Angeles City College and East Los Angeles City College.
She went on to serve on the Garvey School District Board of Education and then the Monterey Park City Council, where she served as mayor for three terms. From there, she was elected to the California State Assembly and later to the State Board of Equalization. She was elected to the House of Representatives in July 2009.
The 75th anniversary committee itself reads like a list of women of distinction. For example, Monica Hubbard, chair of the committee, founded the women’s choral music program at Caltech and is editor of “Altadena Women’s Network” and “Wired Women,” popular local email newsletters; she is known as a community leader with connections in hosts of local non-profit groups.
Other members include Claire Bogaard, renowned historical preservationist and patron chair of the75th anniversary party; Margaret Mc Austin, Pasadena City Council member; Jan Saunders, director of Pasadena Public Libraries; Dolores Hickambottom, a prominent civic leader and an advocate for Northwest Pasadena; Susan Caldwell, activist in Pasadena arts and on the board of the Armory Center for the Arts; Marge Wyatt, longtime member of the Board of Education in Pasadena and on numerous state task forces on education.
Others are Alex Zucco, a member of the Board of Education in Monrovia and on the board of the Pasadena Junior League; interior designer Dorothy Matthiessen, both a national and world champion tennis player in her age group; Marge Nichols, former head of research for United Way; Cristina Alvarado, past president of the San Gabriel Board of Education and now executive director of Child Care Information Services.
Also on the committee are LWVPA president, Yvonne Pine, citizen of the year in South Pasadena and a three-term member and past president of the South Pasadena school board, and Sharon Mullenix, a former leadership development consultant with IBM who is a past president of LWVPA.
Many members who are also currently active on the LWVPA board or in other capacities and who graduated from “professional” Leaguers to careers in the 1970s include Ann Hight, a former vice president of Morgan Stanley and also on the board of Women at Work; Beth Calleton, former executive director of Planned Parenthood; and Barbara Nyberg, who owned and operated a number of successful restaurants.
Other current Leaguers inspired to new heights by LWVPA include Betty Ann Jansson and Marge Lauritsen Leighton, who founded Women Work with three other League members in 1975. Jansson continued as executive director until 2005 and currently is on the board of the local chapter of the National Women’s Political Caucus.
All these women typify the caliber of people who have worked with LWVPA to make a difference in local government.
From the beginning, city government topped the local League’s agenda. For example, fledgling League provided a healing influence in a nasty recall election over a paving-contract scandal in the 1930s and was instrumental in saving the planning commission in the 1940s. It also was influential in formation of the Pasadena Commission on the Status of Women and Human Relations Commission and promoted a Redevelopment Agency to address blight in Pasadena.
The 1970s was the decade the national League won new respect by sponsoring and moderating the first presidential debates on television. It also was the era the League endorsed direct election of the president — long before the photo-finish presidential election in 2000.
The League also was instrumental in backing and implementing integration of the Pasadena public schools and advocated district-only elections to promote minority representation on the Pasadena City Council. LWVPA consistently has supported fair housing, women’s rights and education.
Currently the redistricting process is a top issue.
Membership is open to eligible voters, with special memberships available to people under 18 years of age or non-citizens. For further information, call 626-798-0965.
75th CELEBRATION
A celebration of the 75th anniversary of the League of Women Voters Pasadena Area will be held March 6, 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. at the Caltech Athenaeum, with music, food and drink and brief remarks by Congresswoman Judy Chu and Pasadena Mayor Bill Bogaard. Admission is $75 and requires advance reservations available online at www.lwvpasadenaarea.org/celebrate or by calling 626-798-0965.
LANDMARK ACCOMPLISHMENTS
In the 1930s, Healed wounds of a nasty recall election over paving contract scandals and was instrumental in a “street trader law” that protected youths who hawked newspapers.
In the 1940s, did a “Know Your Town” study and joined other organizations to save the Pasadena Planning Commission.
In the 1950s, published “The Perfect City,” to help citizens understand the need for city planning and a General Plan for growth and development, and also advocated formation of the Redevelopment Agency to address blighted areas.
In the 1960s, supported a bond issue for a third high school in Pasadena and separation of the junior college from the Pasadena Unified School District. Also opposed Proposition 14, a measure that would overturn fair housing laws. (It passed but courts ruled it unconstitutional.) Officially became an area League.
In the 1970s, influenced establishment of the Pasadena Commission on the Status of Women and the Pasadena Plan to integrate the public schools. Also held numerous public forums on Proposition 13, the revolutionary Howard Jarvis measure limiting property taxes.
In the 1980s, began promoting equitable campaign financing and supported a bond measure to finance a city police and jail building as well as a measure to retain the city council/city manager system in Pasadena.
In the 1990s, advocated for community access stations as part of the cable TV franchise and focused on women’s rights, children and families and instant runoff voting, a system to avoid runoff elections and that upholds the principle of one person, one vote. (It has since been instituted in San Francisco, Berkeley, and San Leandro, CA; Aspen, CO; Burlington, VT; Henderson, NC; Minneapolis, MN; Pierce County, WA; and Tacoma Park, MD.)
In the first decade of the 21st century monitored a task force on good government in Pasadena that resulted in a charter amendment revising the Taxpayer Protection Act, supported the Monterey Park Environmental Commission; monitored affordable housing in the 10 League communities, and joined the state League in advocating for a redistricting commission. Redistricting remains a topic of interest.