History
of the Republican Women's Federation of Michigan
In 1918
Male voters in Michigan approved a state constitutional amendment granting
woman suffrage, or voting rights, by 35,000 votes. In 1919, women voted for statewide offices
for the very first time.
1919
The
first" Michigan Women's Republican Club" was formed in April or May
with Mrs. Dora McDonough as the president. According to the Detroit Times, the
first annual meeting was held at the Statler Hotel and the club changed their
name to the "Wayne County Republican Women's Club". This club is
the oldest club in the state and was formed by some of the original
suffragettes in the Detroit area. The club was advised not to
incorporate at that time due to issues with discrediting these women and their efforts to
organize. It was not until April 26,
1932 when the women's political climate changed and the "Wayne County
Women's Republican Club" was incorporated.
This was
before the Michigan Legislature gave women the right to vote.
Our U.S. Congress passed the 19th Amendment to the
Constitution aka the National Suffrage Amendment, on June 5, 1919 and became
law on August 26, 1920 (after being ratified by the necessary three fourths of
the states). This date is known as
"Women's Equality Day". The
first 3 states to ratify the amendment on June 10th, 1919 were Michigan,
Illinois and Wisconsin. Women voted for
the very first time in the presidential election on November 2nd, 1920. Warren G. Harding Ohio (R) was the 29th
president and elected with 60.3% of national votes and Michigan went red. His running mate was Calvin Coolidge.
In 1919, Bina West Miller,
from Port Huron, and a lifelong Republican, became the first woman Vice
Chairman of the Michigan Republican Party.
From 1923 to 1932 she was also a member of the RNC. She served on presidential commissions and
advisory councils and in 1928, made one of the nominating speeches for Herbert
Hoover. Miller was CEO of the Women's
Benefit Association for more than 56 years. She was once described by the
Associated Press as "one of the five greatest women in America".
1925 - The Republican Women's Federation of Michigan was
founded 13 years before the National Federation of Republican Women was
organized in 1938 in Chicago. Michigan
is a charter state of the NFRW and one of the original 11 statewide Federations
organized (California,
Colorado, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan,
Missouri, Montana, New Jersey and Pennsylvania) as charter members in 1938. To be considered "statewide" at
that time, a State Federation or a club had to have members in 60 percent of
the counties of the state.
Bina West Miller hosted a
group of republican women at a tea
in honor of Mrs. Alvin T. Hart, Vice
Chairman of the Republican National Committee.
This social affair developed into
one of far reaching political importance with Miss Isabel Larwill of Adrian was
named the first president of the organization.
These women, who had just a few years before they won the right to
suffrage, were ready to take an active part in government and politics at that
time. They decided to call their
organization the "Republican Women's Federation of Michigan". Their aim was to increase the interest of
women in Republican policies and activities, promote organization of Republican
Women's Clubs, get people to vote, give women practical education in politics
and create opportunities for the service of women in government and political
fields.
When our first president,
Miss Larwill ended her term, we had 15,000 members, representing every county
of Michigan, and with no lack of funds. When she was interviewed she in 1945,
she said that "It seems incredible
now, of course but we actually reached the day when we had so much money that
we made a rule to limit the contribution from any one person!"
Soon after its organization
the Federation was recognized by the Republican State Central Committee. It was taken as a national model and the
National Committee set out to organize similar units in other states. Records
indicate that Marion Martin, founder of the National federation, used the
Michigan Federation's organization pattern in forming the NFRW.
In
1938, the Assistant Chairman of the Republican National Committee, Marion E. Martin proposed the
establishment of a National Federation
of Republican Women’s Clubs.
Under her direction, Miss Martin formally announced the formation of the
Federation at a meeting held in Chicago on September 23rd and 24th
in 1938. The meeting was the culmination
of a year’s work by Republican National Committeewomen representing 17
states.
The NFRW was originally was known as the National
Federation of Women's Republican Clubs of America (NFWRC). The name was changed in January 1953 to the
National Federation of Republican Women (NFRW).
At the time it was organized in 1938, clubs totaling 95,000 members had
applied for affiliation. Since 1952, the Federation's President serves as an
ex-officio member of the Executive Committee of the Republican National
Committee. Our current president, Sue
Lynch, was invited by our current Chair,
Michael Steele, to have a seat on the RNC Executive committee and does
not have a vote.
In 1965, Elly Peterson of Charlotte became the
first woman in Michigan to serve as Chair of the Republican Party. 