Voter league has legacy of action in St. Petersburg

ST. PETERSBURG -- After the local League of Women Voters exposed illicit school bond sales in 1941, the league was unwelcome at School Board meetings.

"We were asked to leave," Sara Phillips recalled in 1984. "We refused. The league saved the county several million dollars."

In 1920, local women who championed active citizenship formed the league. They subsequently lost status, only to re-establish themselves 19 years later. As "watchdogs in high heels," they have since crusaded for peace, integration, educational reform and other weighty local, state and national issues.

"The history of the League of Women Voters of the St. Petersburg area is like a handmade quilt," reads the league's Looking Back 50 Years (1989). "It is the loving story of several generations of women who have endeavored to make a difference."

"Dynamic, nonpartisan and informative," said Diane Trumbull, league president from 1998-1999. "People wouldn't be as informed and politically involved without the league."

In 1919, a referendum brought voting rights to female residents. A fledgling league conducted a public forum a year later, featuring former postmaster Roy S. Hanna (Republican) and St. Petersburg Times general manager C.C. Carr (Democrat).

"There are 804 white women in the city who are registered voters," the league's Nellie Loehr said. "Every one should hear these addresses. Women have at last gained the right to stand beside a box with a slit in it."

In 1921, the league declared Charlie Chaplin and other stars improper entertainment.

"We ask that you set aside the Grand, Rex and Star theatres with feature plays and comedies which all people . . . could recommend for adults and children," the league's Evalyn Lovejoy wrote to theater administrators. Southern Enterprises complied.

The St. Petersburg league lost its affiliation with the national organization, but the reasons are unknown.

On May 15, 1939, Catherine Poynter, wife of journalist Nelson Poynter, became president of the St. Petersburg Non-Partisan League of Woman Voters. A Times editorial explained the group's re-emergence.

"Women have even a greater stake in democracy than men. If our government changes, it is more likely to go fascist than communistic. That means women will be driven back into the home as domestics and breeders."

In 1941, the league petitioned the city after the council failed to complete Jordan Park. The council's action was rescinded and Jordan Park was completed.

"The St. Petersburg league was building a reputation as the most powerful and the largest league in Florida," the Times later wrote.

By 1946, the group had 156 members and had dropped the "Non-Partisan" from its name. Dues were $2. Before the decade ended, the SPLWV had helped introduce voting machines.

In the 1950s, the Times published the league's recommendations with its Know Your Candidates coverage. WSUN and WTSP followed with league programming on radio and television.

In 1959, black women began applying for membership. Former council member C. Bette Wimbish would become the league's first African-American member.

To battle segregation in the 1960s, the league joined integration committees. "We sent members to speak about the importance of desegregation," said Arnetta Brown, 88, league president from 1968-1971. "It's been a struggle. It's still going on."

The group became the League of Women Voters of the St. Petersburg Area in 1968.

In the 1970s, state and national issues that included Vietnam, the environment and the Equal Rights Amendment grabbed the group's attention. Columnist Erma Bombeck visited to rally support for the amendment, which failed.

In 1974, the group accepted Walter Churchill and Dick Malchon as members. "We have about 21 male members now," said Margaret Tappan, 73, league president from 1987-1991. "Some of our leading politicians are members."

Corinne Freeman, the city's first woman mayor, became the first president not to use her husband's name in 1975.

"The League is a great training ground for anyone interested in entering public office," said former league president Ann Sackett (1983-1985).

In 1983, from its first air-conditioned office at 725 Arlington Ave. N, the group touted abortion rights and monitored meetings of the Southwest Florida Water Management District.

In 1997, the league sponsored "Healing St. Petersburg," a Sunshine Center forum that followed the 1996 shooting of Tyrone Lewis. "We felt our city had to heal," said Trumbull, 50, then league co-president (1997-1998). "We needed to put both sides of the issue out."

Since 2000, the league's nearly 120 members have helped sponsor civil rights workshops that help ex-felons regain voting rights. Albert Whitted Airport and other waterfront issues have been a league focus, as have political forums.

"It's of major importance to hold these forums so the public can learn about the candidates," said Mary Berglund, 70, current president.

Said Brown: "The league doesn't achieve anything rapidly. It achieves it eventually."

-- Scott Taylor Hartzell can be reached at hartzel@msn.com.

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