The League of Women Voters in Nevada was born out of a 1916 meeting between Nevadan suffragist Sadie Hurst and representatives of national leader, Carrie Chapman Catt.^[1] Catt saw the need to transition between fighting for the vote and educating women on how to exercise the vote. Hurst, having split with Martin and the Nevada Equal Franchise Society, focused her efforts on the Nevada Women’s Citizens Club. Following the meeting with Catt’s colleagues, Hurst began to transform the Citizens Club into the Nevada League of Women Voters operating out of Reno.

Las Vegas would get its own branch of the League in 1964 and be officially recognized by the Nevada State League in 1965. The Las Vegas League took on many issues including child care, criminal justice, the ERA, and environment, while upholding the League’s commitment to remain non partisan.^[2] The issue that most defined the League from 1964 through the late 1970s was school desegregation. With the 1971 election of Dorothy Eisenberg as president of the Las Vegas branch, the League partnered with the NAACP and local parents to desegregate Clark County schools. This campaign brought Eisenberg and many of the League’s members into public view and made them the target of many who opposed desegregation and busing. Furthermore, the League was dedicated to training and preparing women for civic service and political office. Members such as Jean Ford and Flora Dungan grew through the League and successfully entered Nevada politics as elected officials. To this day, the League continues its nonpartisan mission of educating Las Vegas voters and encouraging all citizens to exercise their right to vote.

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