The Charles City–raised, Iowa State–educated suffragist who led the final drive for the 19th Amendment and founded the League of Women Voters.
Carrie Lane grew up on a farm near Charles City, Iowa, and in 1880 graduated as valedictorian — the only woman in her class — from what is now Iowa State University. She became a teacher, one of Iowa's first female school superintendents, and then a leader of the suffrage movement.
As president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, she directed the “Winning Plan” that secured ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920, and she founded the League of Women Voters to carry the work forward.
Catt is remembered as one of the most effective organizers in American reform history, and her Iowa roots run deep — from a Charles City farm to Iowa State, where Catt Hall bears her name. Her girlhood home is preserved as a museum.
The League of Women Voters she founded remains active a century later.
The Charles City–raised, Iowa State–educated suffragist who led the final drive for the 19th Amendment and founded the League of Women Voters.
Carrie Chapman Catt was from Charles City, Iowa.
1859–1947.
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