Introduction: More Than a Footnote History enthusiasts know that the most important part of history is the story. They also know that any organization that endures for a hundred years certainly has a story to tell. This is especially true of a grassroots membership organization such as the League of Women Voters of the United States. From its twentieth-century characterization as a “mighty political experiment” designed to help twenty million women carry out their new responsibilities as voters, to its twenty-first-century mission of “Making Democracy Work®,” the league remains one of the nation’s most important citizen advocacy and education groups at the local, state, and national levels since its founding in 1920. It is a force to be reckoned with because of the efforts of all who have contributed to its success. Why this story? Why now? If women have received almost no mention in most history books, women of color have received even less or are vir- tually invisible, their story relegated to the footnotes. The same is true of the published histories of the League of Women Voters. At each historic milestone, another portrayal of the league is written. February 14, 2020, marks the centennial of the founding of the League of Women Voters and the next major opportunity to recount a more inclusive and comprehen- sive history of the organization. To celebrate the league’s endurance is to celebrate its unabridged story. The unabridged version must tell of the contributions of women of color who affiliated or attempted to affiliate with the league so that it becomes part of the mainstream narrative. Given the league’s rich heritage and the complexity of the organization, it is clear that no one book or historical account can comprehensively convey the organization’s successes, failures, and limitations in its rela- tionship with women of color. But what is also clear is that in its hundred- year history, countless women of color made noteworthy contributions to the women’s suffrage movement and its legacy organization, the league. Their story deserves to be told. Their contributions to the organization
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