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OPINION
Power to Speak Celebrating 100 years of the in Ventura County have one or more elected women serving. The League of Women Voters is a non-partisan and nonprofit organization with over 500,000 members and supporters today, including men, ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR Nancy D. Lackey Shaffer STAFF WRITER Kimberly Rivers CONTRIBUTORS Michael Cervin, David Michael Courtland, Ivor Davis, Emily Dodi, League of Women Voters since 1974. Our local league began in 1960 with 22 members under the leadership of Mrs. John Alicia Doyle, Chuck Graham, Chris Jay, Daphne Khalida Kilea, Karen Lindell, Paul Moomjean, Mike Nelson, Tim Pompey, Emily Savage, (Carol) Quinn. Today we have 125 members who Kathy Jean Schultz, Alan Sculley, Kit Stolz, Mark Storer, Alex Wilson, by Betsy Patterson come from a wide array of fields, including edu cation, environmental studies, corporate and small Leslie A. Westbrook, Kateri Wozny GRAPHIC DESIGNERS
The League of Women Voters (LWV) is took their husband’s name. In addition to their business, law , agriculture, arts, medicine, science Bret Hooper, Paul Braun, Elaine Cota celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. name, they lost their right to own property and and politics. SALES TEAM LEADER The national organization was founded by Carrie Chapman Catt after the passage of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, granting women their right to vote. There were some local or state leagues before 1920 and the LWV Tennessee manage business, and could not have their own bank account or, later, a credit card without the signature of their husbands or other significant male family member. In 1974, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act passed and women could obtain As we celebrate our 100 years, the League of Women Voters continues its mission: encouraging voters to become informed about the candidates and issues and to vote. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in-person votWarren Barrett ADVERTISING SALES Barbara Kroon CLASSIFIEDS Ann Turrietta was crucial in getting Tennessee to be the last state their own line of credit. ing presents a higher risk of infection. This NovemAdvertising information, call 805.648.2244 needed to ratify the amendment on Aug. 18, 1920. During wartime, women ran the farms, worked ber California will hold its first all-mail election. Classified Ads | Display Ads The tie-breaking vote came from Harry T. Burn, acting on the plea of his mother. It was officially in industry and continued to manage the household and raise the children. Post-World War II, many On Oct. 5, the Ventura County Elections Office will begin mailing registered voters their official ballots. EDITORIAL AND ADVERTISING OFFICE adopted on August 26, 1920, and the work of the women were expected to return to their previous Voters will be able to fill out the ballot in the safety 805.648.2244 League of Women Voters began: educating voters roles of homemaker and mother and not work of their home, then mail it back to the Elections warren@vcreporter.com (Advertising) about the process of voting and about the candi outside the home. It took a second wave of femi Office in the postage-paid envelope. Or, starting nancy@vcreporter.com (Editorial) dates and issues. nism in the 1960-70s to break down some of these Oct. 7, the ballot can be dropped into one of the 31 aturrietta@timespublications.com (Classifieds) Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, our celebration will not be all that we intended. We want to take social barriers. W omen began to enter politics. Jeannette Ballot Drop boxes around the county. Last option: taking the ballot to one of the 47 Vote Centers (con The Ventura County Reporter is distributed every Thursday in Ventura, Oxnard, Port Hueneme, Camarillo, Ojai, Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village and Agoura Hills. The time, however, to recognize the historic signifi cance of these women who pushed for their right to vote, enduring many hardships including the 1918 Rankin was the first woman to serve in Congress, elected in 1917 from Montana. Nellie Tayloe Ross was the first female governor of Wyoming, solidated polling places) which will be open Oct. 31-Nov . 3 for those needing assistance, including accessibility, same-day registration, ballot replace Reporter is available free of charge, limited to one copy per reader. The Reporter may be distributed only by Reporter authorized distributors. No person may, without prior written permission of the Reporter, take more than one copy of each Reporter issue. The Reporter is copyright ©2020 by Times Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. No part influenza pandemic. Those women included famil iar and not-so-familiar names: Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Sojourner Truth, Lucy serving 1925-27. Shirley Chisholm was the first Black woman elected to Congress in 1968 and served until 1983. Today women currently hold ment if lost or damaged, etc. Voting has never been easier. In the coming months we will be helping the VC Elecof this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part in any form or by any means without permission in writing by the publisher. An adjudicated Newspaper of General Circulation (SP50329). Submissions of all kinds are welcomed. However, the publisher assumes no responsibility for unsolicited material. A stamped, self-addressed envelope AD PROOF Stone, Carrie Chapman Catt, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, 25 percent of the Senate seats and 23 percent of tions Office (venturavote.org) to educate voters must accompany all submissions expected to be returned. Inez Milholland, Alice Paul, Mabel Vernon, Lucy the House of Representative seats. Women make Client: Mustang Marketing - Census and answer your questions about the upcoming Ad Executive: Warren Barrett (805) 648-2244 Burns, Mary Church Terrell and many more. We have seen many changes over the past 100 years. Few women had access to higher education in the early 1900s; now over 50 percent of college graduates are women. When women married, they up 50.9 percent of the U.S. population, as of 2019. Locally, Susan K. Lacey and Maggie Erickson Kildee were the first women elected to the Ventura County Board of Supervisors, both in 1980. Today the Board of Supervisors and all 10 city councils November election. Betsy Patterson is president of the League of Women Voters Ventura County, www.lwvventuracounty.org. PRESIDENT Steve Strickbine VICE PRESIDENT Michael Hiatt Please check this proof over carefully and indicate all corrections clearly. You will have a “1st Proof”, “2nd Proof”, and “Final Proof”. If we receive no proof after the 1st or 2nd Proofs, AD WILL RUN AS IS. If this proof meets your approval on the 1st proof, check off “FINAL PROOF (APPROVED)” box, date and sign at the bottom ISSUE: 8/20/20 NOTICE: PLEASE FAX THIS PROOF TO (805) 648-2245 ASAP
CENSUS 2020
We All Count! It’s not too late to take the Census!
