The League of Women Voters of Wisconsin came into existence in February 1920 at a mass meeting called by the Wisconsin Woman Suffrage Association (WWSA). Mrs. Henry C. Youmans of Waukesha, president of WWSA presided and presented the proposal that the Suffrage Association, whose work was done, be replaced by a league of women voters.
In a short time a number of local leagues were functioning. One of the first of these was the Dane County League of Women Voters. Like the statewide organization, it replaced a suffrage organization, the Dane County Suffrage Association. The organizational meeting was called on May 22, 1920 by Mrs. M.B. Rosenberry, and Mrs. Walter Ayer was elected the first president. In 1927 the name of the organization was changed to the League of Women Voters of Madison. Because of its proximity to the University and the leadership exercised by women faculty and faculty wives (Mrs. Willard Hurst, Mrs. Frederick Ogg, Mrs. Max Otto, Clara Penniman, Elizabeth Raushenbush) the Madison League (and its successor, the Dane County League) became one of the more active and influential league chapters in Wisconsin.
During the 1920s, the Madison League worked to inform newly enfranchised women voters about political issues and to promote their voting through citizenship schools. Voters' service inquiries of political candidates for the general public also began during this period. Over the years, the questions posed to candidates helped to bring public attention to issues of importance to league members. During the 1920s the local league also instituted study groups to investigate and subsequently act on issues of concern to women and children such as social welfare, protective services, international peace, and discrimination against women. During this period the local league began its active history of lobbying local, state, and national office holders on a variety of issues.
During the 1930s, the Madison League instituted a lecture series, the proceeds from which went to finance its activities. The Madison League also worked for unification of welfare and poor relief services at the county level. Municipal civil service was also an important issue, and in 1937 a league member was appointed to the first city Personnel Board. In subsequent years, the league continued to exercise an active watchdog in that area. Voter service activities during the 1930s focused on the highly publicized, annual candidates' dinners. During World War II, interest shifted to international affairs, but in the immediate post-war period the league devoted much of its attention to the campaign for a city manager form of government. After instituting this system in 1947, in part due to league efforts, in 1950 Madison voters approved a charter ordinance calling for the return to the mayor-council form of government.
As early as 1946, human rights and civil liberties were important to Madison league members, and together with the Madison Council on Human Rights, they began working toward a municipal human rights commission which was instituted in 1954. During the 1960s, discrimination in housing and equal opportunities legislation became the focus of the local league's human rights work.
Prompted in part by the publication of Madison At Your Service in 1956, the Madison League also became concerned in the area of metropolitan development and urban planning, and it actively supported the strengthening of zoning, codes, and environmental planning. Interest in Cherokee Marsh and the preservation of open space, which was an outgrowth of this concern for urban and environmental planning, was a prominent focus for activity during the late 1950s and early 1960s.
In 1958 a separate league was formed in Middleton, and Constance Threinen was elected president. During the 1960s, the two neighboring leagues formed the Dane County Council of the League of Women Voters. Because the issues of concern to the League were increasingly of a county-wide nature, in 1971 the two leagues decided to merge as the Dane County League of Women Voters. This change was effected on April 26, 1971. In subsequent years, local units were organized in a number of other communities in Dane County.
Shortly after its organization the new Dane County League began to observe a change in its membership. Prior to that time the membership had primarily consisted of housewives with children; few members worked outside the home. In order to meet the needs of a new membership that included many full and part-time workers, the Dane County League began scheduling many of its activities and meetings during non-working hours. Support of ratification of the ERA and marital property reform were two of the issues of special interest to women for which the League worked during the 1970s.
