Our first “Jessie Fest” pays tribute to early suffragist and civil rights advocate
It was standing room only at our 139th birthday celebration for Jessie Daniel Ames, a Wilco resident who was a suffragist and, in 1920, the first president of the Texas League of Women Voters! She was also helped create the anti-lynching movement in the American South.
League member Helen Cordes created a fascinating presentation about Jessie’s life, leaving us inspired to follow in her footsteps. If you’d like to know more about Jessie’s tenacity, courage, and persistence, go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessie_Daniel_Ames and https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/ames-jessie-harriet-daniel
Thank you to everybody who joined us at Jessie Fest, to Lark & Owl Booksellers for hosting us, to City Council member Amanda Parr and Wilco Commissioner Terry Cook for honoring Jessie with proclamations, and to Sugar Mommy's for the beautiful cake.
We were also thrilled to welcome Joyce LeBombard, president of the Texas League of Women Voters. It was a wonderful and inspiring evening!
LWV Wilco Hits New Heights in Voter Registration, Education!
We’re so proud of, and grateful to, our voter registration Super Team headed by LWV Wilco’s Felicia Miyakawa!
With the November 2022 midterm election approaching, the team — between August 6 and October 11 — did a herculean job:
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Registered 587 new voters—over 75% of those were on college and high school campuses.
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Gave out 212 additional voter registration applications to folks not quite old enough to vote.
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Presented LWV’s First Vote program at nine area high schools — that’s 260 volunteer hours and almost 1,800 Wilco students who heard the presentation!
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Held 37 registration events — and a few of those were 2-day events!
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Started giving service hours to high school volunteers and we got to know seven wonderful student volunteers!
LWV is also dedicated to voter education, and you may also have spotted the 2022 Voter Guides in 28 locations throughout Williamson County. Thank you, Karen Darby, Mary and Edgar Finkelstein, and everyone who helped distribute the Guides!
You Can Help LWV Wilco!
Are you interested in our mission of promoting informed voting? Your time, talent, and donations can make a huge difference in advancing our work. Please reach out to us at https://lwvwilco.clubexpress.com/content.aspx?page_id=22&club_id=987705&module_id=489623