Votes for Women! In celebration of Women’s History Month in March, the Chippewa Valley’s League of Women Voters will host a dramatic reading in collaboration with Eau Claire’s Women in Theater group at the Mabel Tainter Center for the Arts in Menomonie. The dramatic suffragist performance will bring to life 10 of the prominent leaders of the United States' suffragist movement – and four of those women had links to Wisconsin. 

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We want to inspire people to vote at every election and consider other ways of getting involved.

One of those leading ladies, Carrie Chapman Catt from Ripon, was also a founding member of the National League of Women Voters. Established in 1920, six months before the ratification of the 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote, the League is still going strong today. Its purpose remains to educate all citizens on the importance of upholding and promoting democracy. It is a non-partisan organization. 

"With this performance, we want to inspire people to vote at every election," said Annemarie McClellan, co-president of the Chippewa Valley chapter of the League of Women Voters, "and consider other ways of getting involved, such as becoming a poll worker and keeping up with legislative changes. We’d like voters to understand how change – or lack of change – affects them locally. The League of Women Voters is a good place to start educating yourself. We always need more people.”

The performance, slated from 6:30pm to 8pm on Thursday, March 3, is free for the first 185 folks to arrive, and will be followed by a social hour with refreshments, where attendees can meet the performers and learn more about both groups. Doors open at 6pm, and masks are required inside the theater. 

For more information about the performance – or about the organizations – visit  www.lwv-gcv.org or ecwit.weebly.com.